After protests, Zelenskyy says he’ll restore Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies : NPR
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will restore the independence of the country’s anti-corruption dogs after protests against a controversial law that would bring agencies under government control.
Michel Martin, host:
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he will move to restore the independence of the country’s anti-corruption dogs following protests against a controversial law which he signed which would return the agencies under his control. Joanna Kakissis reports from NPR.
(APPLAUSE)
Joanna Kakissis, byline: hundreds of demonstrators on Wednesday evening waited for cardboard panels with handwritten messages in Zelenskyy near the president’s office in kyiv.
(Soundbit of archived registration)
Unidentified demonstrators: (song in non -English language).
Kakissis: Among them, Alina Bulochko (PH), a 39 -year -old computer specialist.
Alina Bulochko: This demonstration is not against President Zelenskyy personal. Yes, we protect our freedom, our democracy. Maybe he made a mistake. He shouldn’t do it.
(Applause)
Kakissis: The error, she says, is a new law that puts the country’s main anti-corruption agencies under the control of a general prosecutor supported by the president. Zelenskyy claims that agencies have worked with ineffective and suggested that they had undergone a Russian influence. After the demonstrations, however, he changed CAP.
(Soundbit of archived registration)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: (speaking Ukrainian).
Kakissis: In a video address, Zelenskyy said, everyone heard what people say these days on social networks, in the streets, each other. All this is not in vain.
(Soundbit of archived registration)
Unidentified demonstrators: (song in non -English language).
Kakissis: Anti-corruption activists have welcomed a new Zelenskyy plan to restore the independence of anti-grafting agencies, but the Yaroslav Zheleznyak (PH) legislator is skeptical.
Yaroslav Zheleznyak: their social agreement between citizens and the government was – I do not want to say the broken, but considerably damaged.
Kakissis: Yurii Hudymenko, a sergeant from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, heads the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. He says that there is a special type of social contract between the government and the public in wartime.
Yurii Hudymenko: (speaking Ukrainian).
Kakissis: “During the war,” he says, “we retain our criticism, and they hold their horses and do not try to build a dictatorship here.”
Danylo (PH) Leshchynskyi, the main singer with a platinum hair of a popular group called Ziferblat, said it this way.
Danylo Leshchynskyi: (speaking Ukrainian).
Kakissis: “It is not the assault of the Bastille,” he said about the demonstrations. “It’s just a peaceful reminder that the Ukrainian people have the right to challenge their government.”
Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, with report by Polina Lytvynova and Hanna Palamarenko in kyiv.
(Soundbite of Picture Talk’s “Dangerous Groove”)
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the pages of use of the conditions of use of our website on www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcriptions may vary. The transcription text can be revised to correct errors or match audio updates. Audio on npr.org can be published after its original broadcast or publication. The file authorizing the NPR programming is the audio recording.
