Ukraine’s wartime unity has frayed. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters congregated in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa to campaign against the Verkhovna Rada’s quick-fire passage of Bill 12414.
This legislation subordinates Ukraine’s two primary anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo), to the control of a prosecutor general appointed by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Bill 12414 is provoking outrage in Ukraine for two reasons. First, it is regarded as a major step backward in Ukraine’s anti-corruption struggle. During his first years in power, Zelensky was accused of using criminal investigations to undermine political rivals like pro-Russian Opposition Bloc leader Viktor Medvedchuk and former president Petro Poroshenko. This perception of selective justice reduced his popularity and sullied his reputation as a reformer.
Since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, Zelensky has tried to transform that image through bold anti-corruption crackdowns. After reports were released about the Ukrainian defence ministry procuring eggs for soldiers above market prices, Zelensky dismissed his widely praised defence minister Oleksii Reznikov in September 2023; though Reznikov was not personally accused of corruption, he failed to tackle it.
Zelensky also fired officials in charge of military recruitment over men escaping conscription. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened investigations into five individuals for purchasing $40 million in mortar shells that were not delivered to the Ukrainian army.
While these grand gestures were widely praised by the international community and corruption-weary Ukrainians, Bill 12414 has reignited old criticisms of Zelensky’s politicised approach to crime-fighting. The heated turf war between the SBU and Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, which has seen Nabu agents raided for alleged collaboration with Russia, will only polarise Ukrainian society further.
Second, it deals a major blow to Ukraine’s aspirations of joining the European Union (EU), and could jeopardize long-term American support for Ukraine. The EU’s enlargement commissioner Marta Kos described Bill 12414 as a “serious step back” and insisted that Ukraine’s European path hinged on independent anti-corruption agencies.
Critics within the Maga movement of president Donald Trump’s pro-Ukraine pivot also keenly pounced on Zelensky’s decision. Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, called upon Ukraine’s protesters to overthrow Zelensky and reiterated her opposition to military aid to Ukraine. Bill 12414 is likely to revive calls within the Republican Party for closer auditing of arms transfers to Ukraine, which could delay vital weapons supplies to the frontline.
While these rationales are ample grounds for protest, the unrest we are seeing also reflects a broader cleavage within Ukrainian society. Due to wartime martial law restrictions and the indefinite postponement of presidential elections, Zelensky has been able to consolidate near-absolute power in Ukraine.
It is telling that even Zelensky’s long-standing political opponents enthusiastically supported Bill 12414. Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who came third in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections after Zelensky and Poroshenko, accused Ukraine’s Western partners of trying to control Kyiv through Nabu and Sapo.
Aside from co-opting once potent opposition forces, Zelensky has also concentrated power in the hands of his unelected advisor Andriy Yermak and taken insufficient action against the harassment of anti-corruption whistleblowers.
In January 2024, Transparency International Ukraine warned that “attacks on journalists are becoming systematic” and in April 2024, 16 Ukrainian human rights organisations published a manifesto against these practices.
These heavy-handed actions are fuelling the perception that Zelensky is becoming increasingly power-hungry and authoritarian. The slogans “We chose Europe, not autocracy” and “My father did not die for this” on the streets of Kyiv exemplify this trend.
Even if the SBU finds hard evidence of pro-Russian activity in Nabu, which is plausible given Opposition Bloc MP Fedir Khrystenko’s alleged networks, Zelensky will find it hard to play down concerns that he is exercising power for its sake.
Zelensky’s support for Bill 12414 is an unforced error that threatens Ukraine’s greatest strength: its unflappable wartime resolve.
Ukraine’s wartime unity has frayed. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters congregated in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa to campaign against the Verkhovna Rada’s quick-fire passage of Bill 12414.
This legislation subordinates Ukraine’s two primary anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo), to the control of a prosecutor general appointed by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Bill 12414 is provoking outrage in Ukraine for two reasons. First, it is regarded as a major step backward in Ukraine’s anti-corruption struggle. During his first years in power, Zelensky was accused of using criminal investigations to undermine political rivals like pro-Russian Opposition Bloc leader Viktor Medvedchuk and former president Petro Poroshenko. This perception of selective justice reduced his popularity and sullied his reputation as a reformer.
Since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, Zelensky has tried to transform that image through bold anti-corruption crackdowns. After reports were released about the Ukrainian defence ministry procuring eggs for soldiers above market prices, Zelensky dismissed his widely praised defence minister Oleksii Reznikov in September 2023; though Reznikov was not personally accused of corruption, he failed to tackle it.
Zelensky also fired officials in charge of military recruitment over men escaping conscription. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened investigations into five individuals for purchasing $40 million in mortar shells that were not delivered to the Ukrainian army.
While these grand gestures were widely praised by the international community and corruption-weary Ukrainians, Bill 12414 has reignited old criticisms of Zelensky’s politicised approach to crime-fighting. The heated turf war between the SBU and Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, which has seen Nabu agents raided for alleged collaboration with Russia, will only polarise Ukrainian society further.
Second, it deals a major blow to Ukraine’s aspirations of joining the European Union (EU), and could jeopardize long-term American support for Ukraine. The EU’s enlargement commissioner Marta Kos described Bill 12414 as a “serious step back” and insisted that Ukraine’s European path hinged on independent anti-corruption agencies.
Critics within the Maga movement of president Donald Trump’s pro-Ukraine pivot also keenly pounced on Zelensky’s decision. Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, called upon Ukraine’s protesters to overthrow Zelensky and reiterated her opposition to military aid to Ukraine. Bill 12414 is likely to revive calls within the Republican Party for closer auditing of arms transfers to Ukraine, which could delay vital weapons supplies to the frontline.
While these rationales are ample grounds for protest, the unrest we are seeing also reflects a broader cleavage within Ukrainian society. Due to wartime martial law restrictions and the indefinite postponement of presidential elections, Zelensky has been able to consolidate near-absolute power in Ukraine.
It is telling that even Zelensky’s long-standing political opponents enthusiastically supported Bill 12414. Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who came third in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections after Zelensky and Poroshenko, accused Ukraine’s Western partners of trying to control Kyiv through Nabu and Sapo.
Aside from co-opting once potent opposition forces, Zelensky has also concentrated power in the hands of his unelected advisor Andriy Yermak and taken insufficient action against the harassment of anti-corruption whistleblowers.
In January 2024, Transparency International Ukraine warned that “attacks on journalists are becoming systematic” and in April 2024, 16 Ukrainian human rights organisations published a manifesto against these practices.
These heavy-handed actions are fuelling the perception that Zelensky is becoming increasingly power-hungry and authoritarian. The slogans “We chose Europe, not autocracy” and “My father did not die for this” on the streets of Kyiv exemplify this trend.
Even if the SBU finds hard evidence of pro-Russian activity in Nabu, which is plausible given Opposition Bloc MP Fedir Khrystenko’s alleged networks, Zelensky will find it hard to play down concerns that he is exercising power for its sake.
Zelensky’s support for Bill 12414 is an unforced error that threatens Ukraine’s greatest strength: its unflappable wartime resolve.