Why graft fight stokes Ukraine's unrest

Anger as anti-corruption agencies stripped of their independence.

- By Andrew Cramer

The anti-corruption agencies at the heart of Ukraine's current political turmoil grew out of the pro-Western pivot of 2014, amid popular frustration with graft and reflecting Western demands to crack down on theft of foreign aid. Last week showed how potent a political issue corruption still is.

With the agencies recently investigating senior members of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, last week he and parliament stripped them of their independence and security forces raided their offices.

That, and other moves to muffle criticism and scrutiny, prompted thousands of people to take to the streets in the first mass anti-government protests in years.

Mr Zelenskyy quickly reversed course, submitting a bill to parliament on Thursday to restore the two anti-corruption agencies’ autonomy. The agencies themselves endorsed the bill and urged lawmakers to pass it.

The question now is whether that will be enough to quell the unrest in a country that had shown remarkable unity since Russia's full-scale invasion 3.5 years ago, despite the flagging popularity of Mr Zelenskyy, who campaigned for office as a corruption fighter.

The surge of anger, with protesters in Kyiv and other cities toting profanity-laced signs directed at Mr Zelenskyy and his top advisers, underscores the pivotal role of those watchdog agencies in Ukraine's politics and the sensitivity of the issues they investigate. None are more fraught than alleged schemes to embezzle from military budgets.