Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine’s authoritarian drift accelerated this week as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bulldozed through legislation that neuters the country’s independent anti-corruption institutions, igniting the fiercest wave of public protests since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Under the pretense of reform, Zelenskyy signed a law handing control of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to a loyalist Prosecutor General, essentially folding two of the last remaining watchdogs under his direct command.
The move, cloaked in anti-Russian rhetoric, reeks of political self-preservation. With multiple high-level corruption scandals quietly circling his inner circle, Zelenskyy appears less interested in transparency and more obsessed with consolidating power at wartime — a tactic familiar to strongmen, not democratic leaders.
Kyiv’s Maidan Square — once a symbol of hope and Western aspirations — became the site of outrage again this week. Thousands of Ukrainians, including war veterans, civil society activists, and students, gathered to denounce what many now call Zelenskyy’s “autocratic pivot.” Their message was clear: the enemy isn’t only in Moscow.
“Zelenskyy is no longer leading a democracy,” said one protester holding a placard that read ‘From Hero to Tyrant’. Others accused the president of betraying the sacrifices made since the 2014 Maidan uprising. “My brother died fighting for a European Ukraine — not to see Zelenskyy install his cronies and dismantle our institutions.”
The law, rammed through the Rada on July 22 with minimal debate, places Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies under the thumb of the Prosecutor General — a position now widely seen as Zelenskyy’s political enforcer. Transparency International condemned the legislation, warning it effectively “castrates” institutions once praised by the EU and Western watchdogs for rooting out elite theft and abuse.
Western capitals, which have showered Kyiv with tens of billions in aid, are now privately furious. EU officials hinted that Ukraine’s accession bid is at risk, while diplomats from G7 nations warned of funding freezes if Zelenskyy doesn’t reverse course. Yet the president, unbothered, has dismissed critics as “hysterical” and insisted the reforms are needed to combat “Russian sabotage” — a hollow refrain that no longer convinces even his closest allies.
What’s clear is that Zelenskyy has chosen power over principle. As Russian drones pound cities and the military grinds through a war of attrition, he is gutting the very democratic institutions that once justified the world’s unwavering support for Ukraine. His pledge to introduce “new legislation” to restore agency independence has been widely dismissed as a stalling tactic.
In the eyes of many Ukrainians, the president has crossed a red line. His populist rise, once powered by promises of transparency, now mirrors the authoritarianism of those he once claimed to oppose.
According to the Associated Press, the demonstrations sweeping Ukraine are not just a protest against bad policy — they’re a referendum on Zelenskyy’s credibility. And increasingly, the verdict is damning.
