Ukrainians have defied airstrikes in Kyiv as they continued to protest during the night against a bill approved in the Ukrainian parliament that will bring two anti-corruption institutions under the responsibility of the Attorney-General. The entities are the the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Protesters held slogans and chanted “Destroy Russia, not Democracy.”
Protests also took place in Lviv and other cities. Russian drone strikes continued during the night particularly in Kryvyi Rih.
The Ukrainian government stated that the law is needed to cleanse these entities from pro-Russian infiltrators who have been using the entities to undermine the government but also added that the law will enable the government to continue fighting corruption during wartime which it described as treasonous behaviour.
Ukraine is currently under pressure by constant Russian airstrikes on cities and civilians which have exponentially increased ever since Donald Trump entered office. US weapons shipments to Ukraine have supposedly been renewed.
EU Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier and EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos expressed their concerns about the bill which may undermine the independence of these entities and described it as a significant step backward in the fight against corruption.
Meanwhile, in Russia, protests that were planned in central Moscow against a new Russian law which will tap all communications devices in Russia were foiled by the Russian police and security services as soon as they were about to start, arresting protesters before they were about to gather.
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