Ukraine: Zelenskyy backtracks on anti-corruption agencies after protests and international pressure, but domestic discontent remains invisible.

In a rare break in the silence, Ukrainian streets have once again filled with demonstrators — not to protest Russian aggression, but to oppose a controversial move by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Just days earlier, he had signed into law a bill placing Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies under the direct control of the Prosecutor General, a loyal ally. According to both local and international observers, the move effectively dismantled the independence of institutions created precisely to combat the country’s endemic corruption.

Faced with a wave of criticism at home and abroad, Zelenskyy quickly reversed course. On Thursday evening, he submitted a new bill aimed at repealing the changes, claiming he had “heard the public opinion.” While the U-turn was cautiously welcomed, it raises far deeper questions: what does the Ukrainian public really know — and how freely can it make itself heard?

More than three years after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, a thick veil of opacity continues to shroud the state of internal political debate in Ukraine. The national press, tightly controlled under martial law — which has frozen political activity and curbed press freedom — offers little to no coverage of public sentiment toward Zelenskyy and his inner circle. In today’s Ukraine, criticism can easily land someone on the infamous Myrotvorets blacklist.

Last week’s protests marked the first public anti-government demonstrations since the war began — an exceptional event that forced the administration into a swift retreat. Yet they also signal a deeper, long-simmering discontent that has been swept under the rug by a compliant media ecosystem (EU funding to European media must serve some purpose, after all) and by the absence of any independent polling on popular support.

Zelenskyy initially defended his decision by claiming it was necessary to “protect the agencies from Russian infiltration,” accusing certain officials of collaborating with Moscow. In other words, from the president — who, it’s worth noting, has held office without an electoral mandate since May 24, 2024 — we’re all supposed to play along. And considering the billions burned on arms and macro-financial aid funneled to Kyiv, maybe he’s not entirely wrong…

Photo credit: Daina Le Lardic Copyright: © European Union 2023 – Source: EP