Ukrainians protested in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa after parliament approved legislation expanding the prosecutor general's control over the country's principal anti-corruption agencies. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the measure that evening despite demonstrators' calls for a veto, and rallies continued after the decision became public.
The law grants the prosecutor general authority to issue binding instructions to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, known as NABU, and to transfer cases away from the agency. It also permits the powers of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, or SAPO, to be assigned to other prosecutors. Critics said those provisions removed institutional barriers designed to prevent political interference in sensitive investigations.
Parliament passed the bill with 263 votes in favour, 13 against and 13 abstentions. It moved through committee, the chamber and the office of parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk within hours before reaching the president. The speed of that process contributed to public mobilisation later the same day.
In Kyiv, veterans, serving military personnel and civilians joined the crowd, according to reporters at the scene. Demonstrators carried handmade signs, waved flags and demanded protection for NABU and SAPO. Several hundred people also assembled on Lviv's Svobody Avenue around the monument to poet Taras Shevchenko, while protests were reported in Dnipro and Odesa. The Kyiv Independent described the gatherings as the first countrywide protests since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Both anti-corruption bodies thanked demonstrators for their support. NABU said the public response represented trust in the institution and pledged to continue defending its investigations from interference. SAPO also said its staff would keep working despite political pressure. In a joint warning about the legislation, the agencies argued that it would effectively subordinate their operations to the prosecutor general and undo safeguards built since 2015.
The dispute also carried implications for Ukraine's international relationships. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos expressed serious concern and called the measure a step backwards. She said independent anti-corruption institutions were essential to Ukraine's path toward European Union membership and placed the issue within the rule-of-law requirements of accession talks.
The law's passage did not end the political argument. Instead, Zelensky's signature shifted attention from whether he would block it to how the new powers would be exercised and whether public and international pressure could force further changes. The protests showed that, even under wartime conditions, institutional independence and corruption remained issues capable of drawing coordinated public opposition across major Ukrainian cities. The legislation therefore became both a domestic accountability dispute and a test of reform commitments watched by Ukraine’s European partners. The supplied report did not describe any court challenge or subsequent amendment on the event date.
