KYIV — As Ukraine continues to court Western aid and EU membership, fresh allegations have surfaced indicating that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration is quietly squeezing the very anti-corruption institutions meant to safeguard Ukraine’s democratic credibility.
According to a Bloomberg, officials from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have expressed growing concerns over mounting pressure from Zelensky’s inner circle. Despite previous public gestures aimed at respecting these bodies’ independence, insiders reportedly claim that interference—both subtle and overt—remains pervasive.
Sources say that while the Ukrainian government has backed off from controversial reforms that would have directly weakened institutional autonomy, the tactics have simply become more opaque. Senior officials within NABU and SAPO are reportedly wary of political attempts to engineer leadership changes or dilute prosecutorial independence through bureaucratic maneuvering.
This revelation couldn’t have come at a more critical time. Kyiv is in the throes of its most ambitious foreign policy endeavor since independence—securing a seat at the European table. Yet Brussels has made one condition non-negotiable: clean governance, free from executive intimidation. Zelensky’s track record on corruption reform has been a mixed bag, praised in early years but increasingly scrutinized as wartime pressures concentrate power in his hands.
The development adds a layer of complexity to Ukraine’s democratic branding. While Zelensky has projected himself as a wartime reformer championing Western values, critics point to a worrying centralization of power. That includes increasing control over media narratives, selective law enforcement, and now, allegedly, a quiet campaign against institutions once hailed as post-Maidan successes.
If NABU and SAPO continue to face internal threats, the implications could ripple far beyond Ukraine’s borders. European governments and the United States have poured billions into Ukraine’s wartime and institutional resilience, expecting transparency and reform in return. Pressure on anti-graft bodies risks turning that expectation into skepticism.
According to Gazeta, which cited Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter, “the leadership of NABU and SAPO continue to feel indirect and direct pressure from the administration of President Zelensky, despite earlier assurances to the contrary.”
