Outrage in Ukraine as the government attacks anti-corruption watchdogs
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Spectator
14 hours ago
- Spectator
Can Ukraine forgive president Zelensky?
For six years in office, Volodymyr Zelensky never experienced the raging crowd beneath his window. But Ukraine's wartime president grew too powerful, too confident, bathing in the unwavering support of Ukrainians in the face of a greater evil. He overstepped. When Zelensky signed the bill stripping the anti-corruption institutions of their independence, he assumed Ukrainians would look the other way. They didn't. Protests against the law swept through the country. He did well to listen – and back down. But the damage to his image in Ukraine – and abroad – may now be beyond repair. On the third day since thousands took to the streets – after a cardboard sign declaring 'My father didn't die for this' was held aloft in front of him – Zelensky finally introduced a counter-law intended to cancel the scandalous one that had destroyed the independence of Ukraine's key anti-corruption bodies. Ukrainian lawmakers will return from their outrageous four-week holiday to vote on it in parliament. 'It is important that we maintain unity', Zelensky said. 'It is important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians'. The tape will rewind one week, and Ukraine's anti-corruption agency, Nabu, and the office of the anti-corruption prosecutor, Sapo, will continue investigating politicians regardless of their status. But questions will linger. What was it all for? What was the reason for this political suicide? There is no evidence of Zelensky's personal involvement in corruption, but the same cannot be said for those who share his office. In parliament alone, at least 17 MPs who voted for the scandalous bill have been suspected of corruption by Nabu. But most importantly, the bureau cast its eye over appointees linked to Zelensky's right-hand man, Andriy Yermak: Pavlo Kyrylenko, the current head of the Anti-monopoly Committee, suspected of illegally enriching himself by nearly £1 million, and Oleksiy Chernyshov, deputy prime minister, allegedly involved in a corruption scheme that cost the state more than £17 million. Both deny the claims. According to Holos MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Yermak was the mastermind behind the bill. Zelensky was persuaded that Nabu's digging into people around him had gotten out of control, harming his ratings. He thought that Ukraine's allies would swallow it without protest. In less than a day, the bill passed the Verkhovna Rada to the cheers, laughter and applause of 263 MPs, some of whom were under investigation by the very institutions they had just voted to destroy. By evening, nothing could stop Zelensky from signing it: not the pleas from the Ukrainian public gathered in front of his office in Kyiv, nor the appeals from G7 ambassadors, nor phone calls from French president Emmanuel Macron and Antonio Costa, European Council president. The pace was unprecedented for a president known to let dozens of draft laws gather dust on his desk for months. Appalled Ukrainians, including Zelensky's most avid supporters, saw this move as a blatant attempt by the government to steal and avoid accountability. They saw their blood-earned chance to join the EU snatched from under their noses by the very man they had stood behind for over three years of full-scale war. They watched as European and American allies began to question their continued financial support for Ukraine. The unwritten agreement – to set politics aside and focus on the common enemy, Russia – was broken. Zelensky, who still enjoyed 67 per cent public trust according to a recent Rating Group poll, was the one to crack it. His feat of staying in Kyiv and rallying the world behind Ukraine's cause when Russia invaded has now been stained. Even when this shameful law is scrapped, that stain will be impossible to wash off.
The Independent
18 hours ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Child injured as Moscow and Kyiv fire drones and missiles after latest peace talks
Ukraine and Russia exchanged drone attacks on Thursday, shortly after the conclusion of the latest round of direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. A nine-year-old was among seven people injured after Russia attacked the central region of Cherkasy overnight, damaging more than a dozen residential apartment buildings. While Ukrainian drones hit southern Russia's Black Sea areas, killing one person, injuring another and damaging an oil storage depot, Russian drones struck Ukraine 's Black Sea port of Odesa, triggering several fires in residential and other buildings. Ukraine called for a peace summit to be held between presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin by the end of August, urging Moscow to show it was serious about wanting to end the war. In response, the Kremlin said it was hard to see how Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky could meet before the end of August, RIA reported. The US, meanwhile, approved potential military sales, including air defence sustainment, to Ukraine worth $330 million, the Pentagon said last night.
Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Glasgow Times
Zelensky announces new anti-corruption Bill after public outcry and EU criticism
Opponents of the contentious law passed by politicians and approved by Mr Zelensky earlier this week said that it stripped Ukraine's anti-corruption watchdogs of their independence by granting the government more oversight of their work. Mr Zelensky said it was needed to speed up investigations, ensure more convictions and remove 'Russian influence' from the fight against corruption, though he did not provide examples of Russian meddling. In an abrupt change of course on Thursday, Mr Zelensky unexpectedly said that he had drawn up a new draft Bill on corruption that 'guarantees the real strengthening of the law and order system in Ukraine'. 'The most important thing is real tools, no Russian connections, and the independence of the (watchdogs),' he said in a Telegram post. The declaration appeared to bow to recent pressure that threatened to undermine public trust in Ukraine's leaders after more than three years of fighting Russia's full-scale invasion. The protests have not called for Mr Zelensky ousting, but they are the first major anti-government demonstrations since the war began. 'It is important that we maintain unity,' Mr Zelensky said in his post. The announcement also left some questions unanswered. Volodymyr Zelensky attending the parliament session in Kyiv on Thursday (Vadym Sarakhan/AP) Mr Zelensky had said on Wednesday that he met the heads of Ukraine's key anti-corruption and security agencies and gave them two weeks to make recommendations on how the graft law could be improved before he presented another Bill to Parliament. It is unclear what becomes of that effort to seek their input. Despite that assurance of new legislation, further street protests were scheduled for Thursday evening. The new pronouncement also left unclear whether Mr Zelensky intended to revoke the law that he approved earlier in the week after Parliament had passed it. He did not publicise details about the proposed new law. The unrest has come at a difficult time in the all-out war, which began on February 24 2022. Russia's bigger army is accelerating its efforts to pierce Ukraine's frontline defences and is escalating its bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Ukraine is also facing a question mark over whether the United States will provide more military aid and whether European commitments can take up the slack, with no end in sight to the war. Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for a third round of talks in as many months on Wednesday. But once again, the talks were brief and delivered no major breakthrough. Fighting entrenched corruption is crucial for Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid in the war. It is also an effort that enjoys broad public support. EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos expressed concern on Wednesday over the new law, calling it 'a serious step back'. The Ukrainian branch of Transparency International criticizsed parliament's decision, saying it undermines one of the most significant reforms since what Ukraine calls its Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and damages trust with international partners. People look at a ruined city market following Russia's drone attack in Odesa on Thursday (Michael Shtekel/AP) Meanwhile, two women aged 48 and 59 were killed and 14 other people were injured when Russian forces dropped four powerful glide bombs on Kostiantynivka, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, and shelled it with artillery, Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said. Russian planes also dropped two glide bombs on the centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Thursday morning, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. At least 42 people were wounded, including two babies, a 10-year-old girl and two 17 year olds, authorities said. The southern city of Odesa, and Cherkasy in central Ukraine, were also hit overnight, authorities said. The drone and missile strikes on the cities wounded 11 people, including a nine-year-old, and damaged historic landmarks and residential buildings, officials said. Ukraine has sought to step up its own long-range drone attacks on Russia, using domestic technology and manufacturing. An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi killed two women and wounded 11 other people, local authorities said Thursday. An oil depot was hit, officials said, without offering details.
