Free Republic

The ‘defender of democracy’ is now openly challenged by his own citizens. Many were caught by surprise by yesterday’s protests in Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, and other parts of Ukraine – after all, these are the absolute first since the war began three and a half years ago. But here at TGP we have been closely following the escalating tensions inside the war-torn country. Four days ago (19), we reported that Amid Collapsing Morale, Ukrainians ‘Lost Faith’ in Zelensky, With 70% Convinced That Kiev Regime Leaders Are Using the War to Enrich Themselves: REPORT. The following day (20), there was this...

Last week, we warned of a coming anti-democratic backslide. Now, we see it happening. A parliamentary vote, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s lawmakers, today took away the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Zelensky signed it into law the same day. Under the new law, the prosecutor general, a notoriously non-independent figure, will now oversee anti-corruption investigations — in a complete overturn of the system that was set up to be independent from other law enforcement bodies. In reality, it means that Zelensky’s office will be able to...

Ukrainians are taking to the streets after the passage of a controversial bill threatening the autonomy of two anti-corruption agencies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now facing the largest protests since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Demonstrators gathered outside the presidential administration in Kyiv, while other protests took place in smaller cities across the country. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos expressed concern over the vote, saying "the dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a serious step back." The Ukrainian government’s latest move risks endangering its bid to join the European Union, as a crackdown on internal corruption is a...

ransomnote: I used translate.google.com to obtain the English version of the text as it has proven in the past to be more reliable than the embedded translator at the link. MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Residents of the city of Rivne have joined the protests against the scandalous law that effectively eliminates the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP). This was reported by the publication "Obshchestvennoye".Earlier, residents of Dnipro (formerly Dnipropetrovsk), Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Poltava and Ternopil took part in the rallies. In the capital, the protesters also demanded the resignation of the...

Thousands of people gathered in the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday night to protest moves by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to weaken anticorruption institutions, in the country’s first major antigovernment demonstration in 3½ years of war. The protest outside the president’s office in central Kyiv, including civilians and soldiers, was the most significant fracture so far in the national unity that has helped Ukraine survive a grueling and bloody fight against a Russian invasion. The government did not immediately make a statement on the gathering. “My husband is in the trenches and this is not what they are fighting...