Thousands took to the streets across Ukraine Tuesday evening in protest of a move by President Volodymyr Zelensky that would further consolidate his power.
Zelensky approved amendments that put control of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sap) in the hands of the general prosecutor, who happens to be appointed by the president. Ukrainians see this as a path to more power in the hands of a few and less power for the people. Protests broke out in the capital, Kyiv, as well as in Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa, over the matter, according to reports.
BREAKING: Mass protests have erupted in Kyiv, Ukraine against President Volodymyr Zelensky
This is the first known major protest against the Ukrainian leader. Thousands of people have turned out in the streets of Kyiv to protest moves by Zelensky’s government to block anti-corruption measures. The vote targeted the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) that was made infamous with Joe Biden's threats against the prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden's corrupt activity at Burisma. The Ukraine government is also becoming increasingly unpopular due to Zelensky's refusal to seek an end to the war. Zelensky has established control over state media, outlawed over a dozen political parties, and has suspended democratic elections while he is in power.
Since its war with Russia began, the Zelensky government has implemented series of policies that would be deemed autocratic by any reasonably objective measure.
Not long after Russia invaded, Zelensky declared martial law and signed a decree that combined Ukraine’s media outlets into one platform called “United News.” The decree “suspended” private media companies. The justification for this was to have a “unified information policy,” which is dictator-speak for establishing government control over media and turning all major avenues of information into state-controlled propaganda.
The Zelensky government justified this classic autocratic move as a measure to counter Russian disinformation.
Another victim of Zelensky’s martial-law decree was a dissenting political parties. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council banned 11 political parties. The largest of these was the Opposition Platform – For Life, the second-largest party after Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. It held 44 seats in the 450-seat Ukrainian Parliament. Years later, in 2024, Ukraine also banned the Nash Krai party, which had won 1,694 seats in regional administration. According to reports, “the activities of the political party Nash Krai were banned; the property, funds, and other assets of the party, its regional, city, district organizations, primary cells, and other structural units were transferred to the state.”
The justification? Countering Russian influence.
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