UKRAINE – Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday signed a bill to restrain the autonomy of Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies that targeted Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

The document was published on the website of Ukraine’s parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada, which noted the bill was returned with Zelenskyy’s signature.

The parliament approved the bill earlier in the day, effectively stripping both agencies of their autonomy.

The new law brings NABU and SAPO under the oversight of the prosecutor general, who is appointed and dismissed by the president with the Verkhovna Rada’s consent.

In an evening video address, Zelenskyy said he spoke with key officials during the day, including NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO Prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko, and discussed “various challenges.”

“The anti-corruption infrastructure will work only without Russian influence – it needs to be cleared of that. And there should be more justice,” Zelenskyy said.

“Of course, NABU and SAPO will work. And it is important that the Prosecutor General is determined to ensure that in Ukraine the inevitability of punishment for those who go against the law is actually ensured. This is what Ukraine really needs.”

The Ukrainian president went on to say cases that have been “lying dormant” must be investigated, arguing that officials who left Ukraine have been living in “very nice countries and without legal consequences” for years.

“This is not normal. There is no rational explanation for why criminal proceedings worth billions have been ‘hanging’ for years. And there is no explanation why the Russians can still get the information they need,” he added.

Following the bill’s passing in parliament, Kryvonos had publicly urged Zelenskyy to veto the legislation, warning its passing may negatively affect Kyiv’s European integration process and turn both anti-corruption bodies into “dependent” institutions.

Meanwhile, protests erupted in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other cities, during which activists demanded that Zelenskyy veto the bill, according to state news agency Ukrinform.