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Published : 24 Jul 2025, 08:15 PM
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved draft legislation on Thursday that he said would restore the independence of the country's anti-corruption agencies, reversing course after an outburst of public criticism.
Measures enacted earlier this week that established greater control by the prosecutor general, a political appointee, over the two bodies had fuelled rare wartime protests and had thrown Kyiv's EU bid into question.
Zelensky said on X he had approved the draft for submission to parliament later in the day.
"It is important that we are maintaining unity. It is important that we are preserving independence. It is important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians," he said.
Zelensky, whose image as a tireless leader of the three-year-old war against Russia's invasion has been tarnished by the controversy, said the text of the new bill is "well-balanced".
He did not give further details, saying only that it "guarantees real strengthening of Ukraine's law enforcement system, independence of anti-corruption agencies, and reliable protection...against any Russian influence".
On Monday, security forces arrested two anti-corruption officials on suspicion of ties to Russia and launched sweeping searches of other employees.
Critics had decried the measures putting a Zelensky-appointed prosecutor in control over the anti-corruption agencies, saying they went too far and looked like political pressure against the agencies.
Opposition lawmakers had collected enough signatures to register their own legislation to revoke the restrictive measures, which had been fast-tracked with help from Zelensky's ruling party.
It was not immediately clear how soon parliament, which was meant to start its summer holiday this week, would consider either bill.
The European officials expressed strong criticism over changes curbing the authority of the anti-corruption bodies and on Thursday welcomed an earlier pledge by Zelensky to retain their independence.
