MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Another rally started in Kiev against the law that effectively abolished the independence of the country’s corruption watchdogs after it was signed by Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian news outlet Strana reported.

According to the report, people gathered again on the central square near Ivan Franko Theater, across the street from the seat of the Ukrainian presidential administration. The crowd is chanting, "Corruption kills" and "Hands off NABU and SAP," referring to the agencies by their Ukrainian acronyms.

According to Ukrainian news reports, rallies are currently also taking place in Lvov, Rovno, Ternopol, Kharkov and Khmelnitsky.

Zelensky has long tried to gain control over the agencies. On June 23, the bureau filed corruption charges against Alexey Chernyshov, who at the time served as deputy prime minister. Chernyshov is regarded as a very influential figure in Zelensky's inner circle. According to some opposition lawmakers, the corruption watchdogs could soon bring charges against other people close to Zelensky.

On July 21, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches in the offices of the bureau’s staff and also inspected the prosecutor’s office. On July 22, the legislature, where the majority of seats is controlled by Zelensky’s party, passed a bill aiming to strip the watchdogs of their independent status. In the evening of the same day, about 2,000 Kiev residents took to the streets in protest, demanding, among other things, the resignation of Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrey Yermak. Even so, Zelensky signed the bill into law and it came into force on July 23. This led to protests, with rallies taking place in many Ukrainian cities over the past two days. On the day the law came into force, more than 9,000 protesters gathered in the center of Kiev.

On Thursday, Zelensky submitted to the legislature a bill on the so-called strengthening of the powers of anti-corruption agencies. The bill would require, among other things, that officers of the Security Service of Ukraine subject the staff of the two agencies, along with employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, the Economic Security Bureau and the police who have access to state secrets, to lie detector tests.