Ukraine’s Zelenskyy undoes anti-corruption curbs but fear remains

KYIV, Ukraine — The reversal was almost as swift as the outpouring of public fury. But the question is how much this week’s sudden crisis in Ukraine has nonetheless tarnished the talismanic image of its leader, a man crucial in rallying support at home and abroad for the fight against Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday appeared to reverse his attempt to seize sweeping powers over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Saying he heard the concerns of his people and Western backers, he has now introduced a law that he said would guarantee their independence — and the agencies themselves said they were satisfied.

Many Ukrainians are eager to point out that this open-eared approach — taking immediate action to remedy the problem — is a drastic change from past administrations that dismissed or even silenced such concerns.

But some fear the damage may already be done.

“For Zelenskyy, this is a serious crisis of legitimacy,” Oleksandra Keudel, an assistant professor of public policy and governance at the Kyiv School of Economics, told NBC News in an email. “I’m not sure it’s reversible.”

Now known as a camo-clad wartime leader, Zelenskyy was a comedian elected in 2019 promising to root out the corruption that has plagued Ukraine since it gained modern independence in 1991.

He was widely lauded for his anti-corruption fight — adding fuel to the dismay over his quixotic power grab.

Ukrainians took to the streets in their thousands, some shouting “shame!” outside the legislature in Kyiv.

With his legislative about-face Thursday, Zelenskyy has at least undone the immediate machinery that so worried observers, domestic and foreign.

“It is important that Ukrainians are responding with such dignity to everything thatʼs happening,” he said. He conceded in a conversation with journalists that “probably, there should have been a dialogue” before going ahead with the law. “I am focused on the issue of the war,” he added. “For me, it was very important that we listened and responded adequately. People asked for changes. We responded.”

When asked for comment on the criticisms, Zelenskyy’s office referred NBC News to the comments made Thursday.

What hurts Ukrainians is the perception that the government could so easily undo the hard-fought progress won during the Maidan uprising of 2014 that ousted the Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych.

Mykhailo Sobaliev, an 18-year-old student, says that back then, his father was the head of the parliament’s anti-graft committee and was directly involved in establishing the two bodies whose power Zelenskyy’s law sought to curb.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, his father immediately signed up with the territorial defense units protecting the capital, and now he is fighting in Zaporizhzhia.

Sobaliev describes Zelenskyy’s law as “ugly” and “outrageous,” and knows criticizing the government during wartime is a gift to Ukraine’s enemies. But he sees the public outrage as “a manifestation that democracy still exists and is alive.”

Indeed, many here are eager to point out that the protests, during a period of martial law when such large gatherings can be restricted, would not be possible in Russia, which has brutally crushed far meeker displays of dissent.

Many Ukrainians see this civic surge as intrinsically linked with the attritional violence on the front lines; if these values are not protected at home, then what are the troops fighting for?

The war has become “hard — very hard,” said Aristarkh, 50, a Ukrainian special forces officer, who like most Ukrainian soldiers only uses one name for security reasons. “It’s very difficult to stay motivated,” he said. However “when I saw this number of people” protesting and “also fighting for their country,” he felt “incredible pride,” he added. “It just raises your level of motivation an order of magnitude.”

Jessica Berlin, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington think tank, is a vocal supporter of Ukraine. The initial law was one of Zelenskyy’s “worst political mistakes since the full scale invasion began,” she said, breaking “the unspoken contract between the Ukrainian government and people that has held through over three traumatic, exhausting years.”

The public has “refrained from mass protests” in “the good faith belief that the government is doing everything to win the war and restore security while not overstepping their wartime powers or threatening the democratic progress,” she said. But “for many Ukrainians, this bill crosses a red line.”

The opprobrium was far from just domestic, with leaders across Europe voicing their disquiet and urging Zelenskyy to rethink.

Others fear his standing has been undermined for the longer term.

“Until now, Zelenskyy and his team have been recognized as ‘good guys,’” said Drago Kos, former chairman of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions.

But this week has posed uncomfortable questions: “Why are the ‘good guys’ afraid of anti-corruption efforts within their own country?” he said.

Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv and Alexander Smith reported from London.