Zelensky backs down in anti-corruption clash: reputation bruised, need for elections grows

UKRAINE - In Brief 01 Aug 2025 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

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After facing sharp criticism from Ukrainian civil society, noisy (though not massive) protests, and unprecedented pressure from European leaders, the European Commission, and IFIs, President Zelensky backed down from his attempt to undermine the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions. On Thursday, Parliament passed a new law restoring the autonomy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO)—just one week after the same body had voted to strip them of it. Zelensky signed the bill into law the same day. The episode marks a major failure for Zelensky’s leadership. It’s certainly positive that he refrained from using force to disperse the protests and responded quickly to pressure from Western partners. However, the incident has seriously damaged his image in the West as a heroic leader bravely resisting Russian aggression. Instead, it exposed him as a weak leader influenced by a corrupt inner circle. It also raised concerns that he may be personally involved in rent-seeking schemes—or, at the very least, fully aware of the misconduct around him. Moreover, his attempt to undermine anti-corruption institutions shattered the informal wartime consensus against public criticism of Ukraine’s leadership—an understanding that had been broadly accepted as a necessary wartime restraint. I would argue that the situation with NABU and SAPO marks a pivotal moment for Zelenskiy’s hold on power. While previous attacks by Donald Trump had the opposite of their intended effect—rallying Ukrainians around the flag and boosting the President’s ratings (not necessarily because Zelenskiy was seen as eff...