After a law limiting the independence of anti-corruption bodies came into effect, one of them, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau or NABU, announced the completion of investigations of long-term cases. Four high-profile criminal cases were closed in one week by the agency, Glavkom reports.

This surge in anti-corruption activity coincided with a public statement by the new Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, about his intention to intervene in certain cases that NABU had been investigating for years.

“In such cases, I will raise questions and possibly create a joint investigative group with other employees,” said Kravchenko.

For comparison: in January 2025, NABU did not report about the number of cases brought to a conclusion. According to the Center for Countering Corruption, the agency completed one in May and three in March, Texty reported. 

Billion-dollar fraud at PrivatBank

Finally, NABU completed the investigation of one of the largest cases involving the embezzlement of over $225 million from PrivatBank before its nationalization. According to the investigation, the money was funneled through a scheme of fictitious loans registered to controlled entities.

The case involves six suspects, including oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who has been in custody since 2023.

Undeclared assets of AMCU head

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Antimonopoly Committee, is charged with failing to declare significant property, including several apartments in Kyiv and Uzhhorod, a residential house of over 220 sq.m. near Kyiv, two land plots, two garage boxes, six parking spaces, three non-residential premises totaling over 190 sq.m., and a BMW X3 car. Additionally, a separate case regarding Kyrylenko’s alleged illegal enrichment amounting to over $1.75 million is under review and has already been transferred to the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Fictitious rulings for draft dodgers in Odesa Oblast

Regional judges systematically issued fake rulings allowing men to avoid mobilization. The most common reason was the status of “sole parent.” According to the investigation, $3,500 was charged for such rulings. A total of 1,040 similar rulings were issued over the past year.

$300,000 for impunity

Another case was completed, and this time against an SBU officer who, according to the investigation, demanded $300,000 for destroying materials related to the illegal smuggling of men abroad. If refused, he threatened to initiate criminal prosecution under more serious charges.

Ukrainian deputies prepare a counterstrike against a new controversial law in the Constitutional Court. After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the controversial law narrowing the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), MPs from the Holos parliamentary faction announced the start of collecting signatures for an appeal to the court.

“In fact, the only thing that can be done now to fix the situation is to strike down this law in the Constitutional Court,” says MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak, emphasizing that the parliamentary procedure was violated during the consideration of the bill.

He believes the initiative is entirely realistic: “We will need 45 signatures from deputies… but I think we can still find that many in the Ukrainian Parliament.”

Protesters have already taken to the streets in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and other cities. They are demanding the repeal of the law, which they believe will bring the country to the era of former President Victor Yanukovych, when the government controlled investigations, the prosecutor’s office, and the courts.

The morning after signing the law, Zelenskyy gathered the heads of all key law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, including NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, SAP Head Oleksandr Klymenko, SBU Chief Vasyl Maliuk, and Prosecutor Kravchenko.

The president stated that “criminal proceedings must not last for years without verdicts” and said that “we all hear what society is saying.” According to him, a joint plan to protect public interests must be ready within two weeks, followed by an in-depth working meeting with all sides the week after. 

On 22 July, the Ukrainian Parliament passed bill No. 12414, which effectively destroys the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), says the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO). 

The NAKO emphasizes that this decision will severely undermine trust in Ukraine on the international stage. The development of anti-corruption institutions, supported by civil society and international partners since 2015, was a key condition for Ukraine’s progress towards the EU and NATO.

The liquidation of NABU’s and SAPO’s independence threatens further international aid.

The law was adopted amid high-profile searches at NABU, where security forces uncovered an FSB agent working inside the bureau who passed information to Russia.

“Yesterday we saw SBU searches that showed NABU is not perfect, and that is true, but today these searches have been used by the authorities to dismantle an independent anti-corruption investigation,” says NAKO senior researcher Tetiana Nikolaienko.

Now the Prosecutor General becomes the de facto head of SAPO prosecutors, gains full access to NABU cases, has the right to transfer them to other bodies, decides jurisdiction disputes, and signs indictments against high-ranking officials. This destroys the possibility of conducting impartial investigations according to the law.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Action Center stresses that President Zelenskyy’s signature under this law will return the country to the times of former pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovych.

“Under these conditions, NABU, SAPO, and the High Anti-Corruption Court lose all meaning as Zelenskyy-installed Prosecutor General will stop investigations against all the president’s friends,” adds NAKO.

Accordingly, there is no point in electronic asset declarations, punishment for illegal enrichment, special confiscation, or other anti-corruption reforms.

The Civil Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense says Ukraine’s anti-corruption system has lost its independence within several minutes. The organization is urging President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto a bill No. 12414, passed by Ukrainian lawmakers, which curtails the freedom of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO)

While the bill was introduced as addressing the investigation of wartime disappearances, last-minute amendments radically altered its essence. Both the relevant committee and the parliamentary chamber approved the changes at record speed.

“This law strips SAPO of its independence,” states the Civil Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense.

From now on, the Prosecutor General will have direct control over prosecutors in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, can reassign their powers, seize NABU cases, and issue directives.

This opens the door to manual control, political interference, impunity for loyal officials, and the destruction of independent investigations into high-level corruption.

“We are fighting for justice. But this law is about abuse of power and shielding installed persons,” the Council emphasizes.

The West has reacted swiftly to the law. The European Commission has voiced concern, stressing that EU financial support depends on progress in democratic governance. G7 ambassadors have said they plan to raise the issue with Ukrainian officials.

Guillaume Mercier, the spokesperson for the European Commission for Enlargement, has claimed that the EU is providing Ukraine with significant financial assistance “subject to progress in transparency, judicial reform, and democratic governance.”

“These bodies are crucial to Ukraine’s reform agenda and must act independently to fight corruption and maintain public trust,” he says.

NABU was established in 2015 under pressure from Western partners and civil society.

Ukraine has charged three Russian commanders suspected of ordering the rocket attack on a residential area of Chernihiv with Grad multiple launch rocket systems in 2022. The attack killed 20 people and wounded 28, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.

The Prosecutor General’s Office, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, has identified Colonel Oleg Kurygin, a commander of the 35th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian 41st Army, as well as two subordinates, Major Ramis Zagretdinov and Captain Timur Suleymanov, who were responsible for battalion tactical groups.

On the morning of 16 March 2022, they ordered a massive strike on the residential area using unguided rockets, despite the absence of any nearby military targets. At that time, civilians were standing near a shop buying groceries.

“Russian military personnel were aware they were using weapons against civilians. This was a deliberate attack on the civilian population,” the Prosecutor General’s Office emphasizes.

Under international law, such actions constitute a war crime. The commanders are charged with violations of the laws of war, combined with the intentional murder of a group of persons by prior conspiracy.

The documentation of war crimes was conducted by the public organizations Truth Hounds and Global Rights Compliance.

According to the investigation, Kurygin personally gave the order to shell using high-explosive fragmentation ammunition, and his unit temporarily controlled the border areas of Chernihiv Oblast in 2022.