A rally is being held in Chernihiv against the law signed by Volodymyr Zelensky, which practically eliminates the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SPA), reports the Ukrainian publication "Obshchestvennoye. Novosti".
According to Ukrainian media, similar protests are taking place in Kiev, Vinnytsia, Dnipro (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), Zhytomyr, Lviv, Nikolaev, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv and Khmelnytsky.
On June 23, the NABU filed corruption charges against Oleksiy Chernyshov, who at that time held the post of Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of National Unity of Ukraine. Chernyshov is considered a very influential figure in Zelensky's entourage, and this led to an escalation of the conflict. As opposition-leaning lawmakers have noted, anti-corruption agencies could soon bring charges against other people in Zelensky's inner circle.
On July 21, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches of NABU employees and also came to check the SAP.
On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada, where the majority of deputies belong to the Zelensky-controlled party, adopted a controversial law that undermines the independence of NABU and SAP. In the evening of the same day, about 2,000 Kyiv residents took to the streets to protest, demanding the resignation of Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. Nevertheless, Zelensky signed the law, which came into force on July 23.
This led to protests - rallies have been held in many cities of Ukraine over the past two days. On the day the law came into force, more than 9 thousand protesters gathered in the center of Kiev.
On Thursday, Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill on the so-called strengthening of the powers of anti-corruption bodies. According to him, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine will conduct polygraph tests on employees of the NABU, SAP, as well as the State Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Economic Security and the police, who have access to state secrets, at least once every two years.