WASHINGTON, July 23. /TASS/. By signing the law on the de facto elimination of the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SACPO), Vladimir Zelensky may draw US President Donald Trump’s ire again, Axios portal reports.

It says Zelensky is "playing with fire," given Trump's previous statements that Ukraine is an extremely corrupt state, and Zelensky is a "dictator without elections."

On July 22, Zelensky signed a law passed by the Verkhovna Rada, effectively eliminating the independence of the NACB and SACPO, which sparked protests in Kiev and other major Ukrainian cities.

Under the law, which entered into force on July 23, the Prosecutor General becomes the head of the SACPO prosecutors, which effectively puts the anti-corruption prosecutor's office under his power and influences the cases conducted by NACB.

Also, the law lifts the ban on transferring cases from the NACB to other bodies, and the Prosecutor General will now be able to take over NACB proceedings and transfer them to other prosecutors. According to the Ukrainian media, the law will have a significant impact on the NACB and on the work of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.