BRUSSELS, July 24. /TASS/. Kiev has forsaken any democratic principles after dismantling two key anti-corruption agencies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) — attracting worldwide attention; Ukraine is actually under attack from all sides, but there is also an "insidious and corrosive adversary from within," Politico notes.

According to the newspaper, this is something that "opposition lawmakers and civil society activists have been arguing for months, as Ukraine’s presidential administration has been grabbing more power, weakening other governing and regional institutions — including the country’s parliament." In addition, it is "intimidating critics in a bid to silence them with hue-and-cry campaigns or by labeling them as Russian stooges."

"This is the logical culmination of tightening the screws at home," the outlet quoted critics of the current regime as saying, with individuals who recently held high positions in the government among them.

On Tuesday, Vladimir Zelensky signed a law passed by the Verkhovna Rada that effectively strips the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) of their independence, sparking protests in Kiev and other major cities across Ukraine. The law, which took effect on July 23, places the SAPO prosecutors under the direct authority of the prosecutor general, granting him control over the office and the power to influence cases handled by NABU. It also removes the ban on transferring cases from NABU to other agencies, allowing the prosecutor general to reassign them at will. According to Ukrainian media, the legislation is expected to significantly weaken both NABU and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.