By Olha Danyliuk

I was asked by CIVIL about my view of the role of President Zelensky in this matter. Well, President Zelensky bears responsibility for the current situation. First, it was his party’s parliamentary majority that passed Bill No. 12414. Second, he declined to veto it. And now, we’re seeing the Ukrainian government announce a four-week holiday — a move that is absolutely enraging society.

Zelensky convened a meeting with the heads of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies just one day after signing the controversial bill, on July 23rd. He suggested a draft law that, he claims, will not limit the powers of NABU or SAPO. But when this law will be introduced, and whether it will resolve or deepen the crisis, remains unclear. That’s why Ukrainians continue to protest on the streets of numerous cities from East to West and from North to South, demanding genuine reforms that can safeguard, or even strengthen, the country’s anti-corruption system.

Simply put, his role in this is significant, and I am personally shocked he and the parliament chose this course of action.

I was also asked how genuine this issue is and how beneficial it is to the enemies of Ukraine’s fight for freedom.

This issue is catastrophic. It puts Ukraine in a dangerously weak position in EU-Ukraine accession negotiations. Anti-corruption reform has been one of the core pillars of Ukraine’s commitments under the EU membership roadmap.

The recent crackdown on NABU and SAPO not only undermines public trust but also raises serious concerns among Ukraine’s international partners, particularly the European Union, which has made anti-corruption progress a condition for further financial aid and eventual accession.

What is even worse, public protests and growing tension between civil society and the government create an ideal environment for Russian influence to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. We are facing serious risks right now. What may happen could be truly disastrous – not only for Ukraine, but for all of Europe.

A Blueprint for Sabotaging Ukraine’s Future

When the state thinks it can permanently piss in the citizens’ eyes under the excuse of “now is not the time”, a very famous phrase among Ukrainians during the last three years – Well, no, it can’t.

Since February 24, 2022, we all silently reached a consensus: we, as a nation, won’t hold you accountable for what happened before 2022, and you, the government, will be given enormous credit of trust.

Then came 2023 and 2024 – scumbags like pro-Russian MP Artem Dmytruk and former Kyiv City Council deputy Denys Komarnytskyi, charged with corruption, fled abroad. People like Ania Alkhim, a famous blogger who lives in Kyiv, can shout “Putin nailed it” without any punishment.

Now it’s 2025 – a year in an extremely difficult environment, when the US is looking for any excuse to scratch us off the agenda. The EU is closely watching what’s happening with the reforms.

And here we are, reshuffling the government. [First Deputy PM] Yulia Svyrydenko says we’re “exaggerating the problem of corruption in Ukraine,” meanwhile the apartment of Hero of Ukraine Andriy Pilshchykov, better known by his call sign “Juice”, is being raided by the State Bureau of Investigation – because so-called “enemy of the people” Vitaliy Shabunin, a well-known anti-corruption activist, once stayed there.

Bravo! Powerful enough?

People talking about how effective NABU and SAPO have been – maybe take a look at the “efficiency” of the Ministry of National Unit,vthe head of which is now the highest-ranking official to be served a corruption suspicion notice in a $38 million embezzlement case, yet he remains untouched.

If a structure is a thorn in the side of the police-state system, that means it is effective. NABU and SAPO are not perfect, but they do work. In 2015, no one in Ukraine thought any judge could end up behind bars. In 2025, it became the norm.

NABU and SAPO are the achievements people died for in 2014, during the Revolution of Dignity. The ones people are fighting for now. Not so that a puppet Prosecutor General becomes the king of “justice”, deactivating state’s main anti-corruption bodies.

You, government representatives, keep thinking you’ll be able to run the country without civil society. You won’t.

And those two MPs from Volyn, whose signatures we saw yesterday on Bill No. 12414, know this: you are a disgrace to common sense.

Oh, and one last thing, besides [MP Mariana] Bezuhla, there’s someone else who really hates NABU and SAPO. I’m attaching the video below.

Olha Danyliuk is a prominent Ukrainian journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Volynska Gazeta, and co-leader of the ViLNi Media Project. A steadfast advocate for press freedom and the safety of journalists in Ukraine, she has consistently raised her voice against repression and violence targeting media professionals.

In May 2025, Danyliuk addressed the Westminster Alliance for Ukraine, drawing attention to the grave risks faced by Ukrainian journalists, including the harrowing case of Victoria Roshchyna, who was murdered while in Russian captivity.

She was also a featured speaker at the international conference “Ukraine and the World: Resisting Aggression, Defeating Authoritarianism” in March 2025, and participated in the “Defending Democracy and Human Rights” conference in December 2024.