Afrasianet - Mohammed Sanajla - On July 22, 2025, the President of Ukraine ratified Volodymyr Zelensky on a controversial law that revoked the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Office" and the "Special Prosecution for Corruption Cases", placing the two institutions under the authority of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which effectively means that they are subordinate to the Office of the President, and it is expected that they will lose the ability to independently investigate cases of state corruption.
The law was quickly passed thanks to the support of Zelensky's "Servant of the People" party, and was signed by the president despite domestic and international warnings, according to the Atlantic Council platform, and the decision was interpreted as a direct response to investigations into prominent figures close to the presidency, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov.
This was followed by the largest protests since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, with protesters arguing that the law undermines the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies and weakens the security and intelligence apparatus.
The European Union announced the suspension of a €1.5 billion (about $1.74 billion) aid package, justifying its move by citing the lack of substantive reforms and escalating political interference, according to the "Organized Crime and Corruption Project."
After pressure from the street and international criticism, Zelensky announced a new bill two days later restoring independence to the two bodies, which was passed on July 31 by a wide majority, in a move seen as more of an attempt to contain the crisis than a serious political review.
The roots of corruption in Ukraine
Corruption in Ukraine has its roots in the post-Soviet Union collapse in 1991, when it permeated state institutions, parties, police and the economy.
The American rights organization KKKC points out that bribery and political, judicial and bureaucratic corruption are among its most prominent manifestations.
The Guardian newspaper reported that since the 1990s, officials and businessmen have organized extensive schemes to loot the state budget. Officials from the attorney general's office revealed that nearly a fifth of GDP was looted annually between 2010 and 2014.
Although Ukraine's economy was the size of Poland's at independence, it later declined, while a small number of businessmen became big billionaires.
According to Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index , Ukraine ranked 35th out of 100 countries.
Wartime corruption
After the so-called "Dignity Revolution" in 2014, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau was established. Zelensky made "victory over corruption" a slogan of his 2019 election campaign, and managed to pass reforms such as a law to lift the immunity of deputies, but he faced setbacks, most notably his dispute with the Constitutional Court over the powers of the office, according to Time magazine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has exploited corruption in Ukraine to justify the war, saying just three days before the invasion that the Kyiv government was "betraying the interests of its people." With billions of dollars in Western aid pouring in since 2022, a series of major scandals have emerged:
• Supplying food to the military (2022): Officials accused of embezzling more than $17 million by inflating the prices of staples such as potatoes and cabbage.
• Bribery of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (2023): Vsevolod Knyazev arrested for receiving a bribe of approximately $2.7 million.
• Bribery of recruitment agencies (2023): 112 cases were opened against officials involved in accepting bribes to smuggle citizens out of military service, and violations include the theft of money and even cryptocurrency.
• The case of the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure (2023): Vasyl Lozinsky received a bribe of about $400,000 to facilitate contracts for the purchase of generators at exaggerated prices.
• Energy Sector Case (2024): Deputy Minister of Energy arrested after being caught red-handed with a $500,000 bribe to facilitate the transfer of equipment from besieged areas.
• The Billionaires Case (2025): Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov lost a lawsuit in a London court over a scam that cost Privat Bank about $1.9 billion, according to Bloomberg.
• Drone scandal (August 2025): A corruption scheme has been uncovered in contracts for the purchase of drones and electronic warfare systems at exaggerated prices of about 30%, costing the state treasury millions of dollars.
• Suspicions against the president and his wife.
In October 2021, the Pandora Papers revealed that Zelensky and his associates owned a network of offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and Belize, which were used to buy luxury properties in London, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Project.
The 2013 purchase of an apartment in Yalta by his wife, Olena Zelenska, at less than half its market value, has also raised several questions, as it was made by a businessman whose bank was accused of corruption, Reuters reported.
There were also reports that Zelensky's wife bought a luxury Bugatti for $4.8 million, but these claims were later denied by a number of media outlets, including CBS.
Corruption remains one of the most complex challenges facing Ukraine, even as it fights an open war against Russia. Embezzlement, bribery and manipulation of international aid have undermined trust in the authorities and weakened the home front.