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5d ago

Ukraine Restores Anti-Corruption Bureaus and Probes Defense Contracts

International financial institutions hailed the decision as vital for unlocking rule-of-law benchmarks that secure further support.

FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leave 10 Downing Street after a meeting in London on June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
Participants gather at a protest against a law targeting anti-corruption institutions in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
FILE - Ukrainian lawmakers vote for a new bill proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to restore the independence of the country's anti-corruption agencies at the parliament session hall in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadym Sarakhan, File)
Demonstrators protest against a new bill proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy restoring the independence of the country’s anti-corruption agencies, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Overview

  • Ukraine’s parliament unanimously repealed July 22 amendments, restoring full autonomy to NABU and SAPO after Zelensky signed the reversal into law on July 31.
  • The two agencies reopened immediately and by August 7 had launched major investigations into alleged corruption in defense procurement contracts.
  • Nationwide wartime protests in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro and Kharkiv pressured lawmakers to reverse the amendments and demonstrated sustained civic engagement.
  • The reversal marked a key milestone in Ukraine’s EU integration strategy by reinforcing conditionality tied to independent anti-corruption institutions.
  • The episode highlighted tensions between executive security claims and parliamentary checks in Ukraine’s wartime governance.