MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. More than a thousand people took to the streets of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to protest against the Vladimir Zelensky law that essentially strips the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of their independence, the Strana news outlet reported.

The media outlet also posted a video on Telegram showing a group of protesters carrying banners.

According to the Ukrainian media, similar rallies are also taking place in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), Zhitomir, Krivoy Rog, Kropivnitsky (formerly Kirovograd), Lvov, Nikolayev, Odessa, Rovno, Ternopol, Kharkov, Khmelnitsky, Chernigov and Chernovtsy.

Zelensky has long been trying to take NABU and SAPO under control but they had previously managed to stay independent. On June 23, NABU brought corruption charges against Alexey Chernyshov, who at the time served as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and minister of national unity. Chernyshov is seen as a very influential member of Zelensky’s inner circle, a fact that only escalated tensions. Opposition lawmakers point out that anti-corruption agencies were pushing to bring changes against other close Zelensky allies.

On July 21, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) carried out 70 searches of NABU employees, and also raided SAPO. On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), where Zelensky’s party has a majority, passed the law abolishing the independence of the country’s two agencies fighting corruption. Late on Tuesday, about 2,000 Kiev residents took to the streets to protest and demand, among other things, the resignation of Andrey Yermak, head of Zelensky’s office. Rallies were also held in Dnepr, Lvov, Odessa, Poltava, Rovno and Ternopol. However, Zelensky still signed the controversial law, which took effect today.