In less than two days, Ukraine destroyed the most credible anti-corruption institutions it had spent over a decade building — institutions that had become a global model for uprooting oligarchy.
Monday (21 July) was the day of pretext. Law enforcement — under the control of president Volodymyr Zelensky — launched a sweeping assault on Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies.
Seventy extrajudicial searches were carried out. Offices were raided, sensitive data accessed, and a surprise security clearance review was initiated.
The stated rationale? A hunt for Russian spies. The real target? The independence of Ukraine’s specialized anti-corruption agencies.
Tuesday (22 July) was the day of legislative murder.
Zelensky’s party joined forces with pro-Russian and populist factions in parliament to pass a law that strips the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of independence.
Some lawmakers shouted “Shame!” as the bill passed.
Zelensky signed it immediately — before the public or Ukraine’s allies could fully grasp the implications.
This was not just a bureaucratic reshuffle.
It was the political assassination of Ukraine’s most vital democratic achievement since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity.
Before 2014, the world had no proven path to dismantling entrenched oligarchy.
So Ukraine pioneered a new model: with its legal system compromised, reformers teamed up with civil society and international partners like the FBI to create independent institutions empowered to investigate and prosecute grand corruption.
NABU and SAPO earned trust at home and abroad, and their success made them targets — not only for corrupt elites in Kyiv, but also for Vladimir Putin, who called out these agencies by name the day before his 2022 invasion.
The new law gives Ukraine’s prosecutor general — appointed by the president — sweeping authority to transfer NABU cases to prosecutors of his liking, close cases he deems sensitive, and usurp other powers from SAPO.
In effect, it places the last bastion of independent governance under presidential control. The backlash has been swift.
Thousands of Ukrainians — who cannot vote under martial law — are streaming into the streets to protest the death knell of Ukrainian anti-corruption, while the security services send threatening messages to the organisers.
The anti-corruption activist who was targeted with flimsy charges earlier this month is soon expected to face even more repressive charges of treason.
Others fear they’re next.
This won’t be tolerated by the Ukrainian people, 90 percent of whom rank corruption as the nation’s second worst threat after the war.
Why would Zelensky do this?
Two reasons: consolidation of power and protection of corrupt allies.
First, Zelensky and the head of his presidential office, Andrii Yermak, now rule Kyiv with an unchallenged grip.
Oligarchs and independent media have been sidelined. Parliament and law enforcement have been brought to heel. Independent officials in reconstruction and defence procurement have been dismissed.
Earlier this month, Kyiv unlawfully blocked the appointment of a new head of the Bureau of Economic Security.
Seeing little pushback, the office of the president turned its sights on NABU and SAPO.
Second, the timing of this power grab responds to corruption investigations closing in on Zelensky’s inner circle.
In June, NABU named deputy prime minister Oleksii Chernyshov a suspect in a land-for-kickbacks scheme. Another investigation involves Tymur Mindich, a longtime Zelensky ally.
Even if NABU and SAPO’s independence were restored tomorrow, these cases may already be compromised — now that the president’s office has access to their files.
With diplomatic words having failed to prevent this, Ukraine’s allies must display their willingness to act.
The European Union and international donors should make clear that no further financial assistance or progress toward EU accession will be possible until the law is fully repealed.
Don’t open Pandora’s Box of 'reforms', which would attempt to subvert the institutions by more subtle means; simply return the Criminal Procedure Code to its pre-Tuesday text.
The United States, traditionally the strongest voice for reform in Ukraine, is no longer reliable.
Ukrainian civil society suspects that Yermak was emboldened by a recent visit from Keith Kellogg, the US envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
We are told that when Kellogg called Yermak on Monday about the attack on NABU, Yermak was ready with a response tailored for the Trump administration: he told Kellogg that the US shouldn’t interfere now, because they’re probing the NABU officials who closed the case against Hunter Biden.
That leaves Europe to lead.
Fortunately, the EU now holds the two most powerful levers: money and membership.
The European Commission should follow up on its initial statement by making it clear that they have put their pencils down on even technical advancements to Ukraine’s EU accession. Donors — including the EU Facility, IMF, World Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development — should condition all future disbursements on the full restoration of NABU and SAPO’s independence.
For three years, Ukraine’s allies have rightly praised the country’s fight for democracy and the rule of law.
But those principles must apply not only on the battlefield, but also in the halls of government. If Europe fails to defend Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions now, its support for Ukrainian democracy will ring hollow.
This year, we turn 25 and are looking for 2,500 new supporting members to take their stake in EU democracy. A functioning EU relies on a well-informed public – you.
Josh Rudolph is managing director and senior fellow for strategic democracy initiatives at the German Marshall Fund of the US think-tank.
Josh Rudolph is managing director and senior fellow for strategic democracy initiatives at the German Marshall Fund of the US think-tank.