Ukraine’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to pass Law 31533 that reverses Law 21414 passed a week earlier that gutted Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms. The new bill restores the independence of the country’s key anti-corruption bodies, following public outcry and international criticism over the previous legislation that placed full control of all Ukraine’s law enforcement bodies under the direct control of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The law will go into effect on August 1 after the text is published in official parliamentary newspaper Holos Ukrainy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the legislation, writing on X that it was a step towards strengthening the rule of law and aligning with European Union standards.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the new law "removes the risk of interference in the work of anti-corruption bodies and strengthens the entire law enforcement system… This is a clear response to the expectations of society and our European partners," Svyrydenko wrote in a statement.

Reports from Kyiv say that there was relief amongst protestors gathered outside the parliamentary building and a feeling that the biggest political crisis of Zelenskiy’s administration was probably over.

Law 21414 removed the independence of National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which were set up in 2016 at the EU’s insistence and operated entirely independently of government supervision and control. They were tasked with fighting the endemic corruption of the Ukrainian government and could arrest senior government figures who would be tried in the associated Anti-Corruption Court (ACC) that was also established at the EU behest.

The bill gave the Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, a Zelenskiy appointee, the right to reassign any case, including those being investigated by NABU, to any other law enforcement agency or jurisdiction. Zelenskyy justified the law to counter the threat of law bodies having been infiltrated and corrupted by Russia.

Critics of the change suggested that Law 21414 was prompted by NABU investigations into several senior government figures in Zelenskiy’s inner circle.

Ukrainska Pravda reported the initial move to dissolve the agencies was due to corruption invetigatiosn to three high profile men close to the president: the high-profile indictment of former Deputy PM Oleksiy Chernyshov, a law-enforcement search of Presidential aide Rostyslav Shurma's home in Germany, and a potential forthcoming criminal case involving Tymur Mindich, a businessman with close ties to the President's Office.

Other analysts have suggested that Zelenskiy together with the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, who organised the return of the deputies from their summer holiday to rush through the bill, were looking to shore up their grip on power ahead of a possible end of the war with Russia and anticipated instability in Ukraine.

The bill was passed only shortly after a major government reshuffle that saw Zelenskiy appoint loyalist Yuliia Svyrydenko as the new Prime Minister as well as several other changes that increases his grip on power.

The passage of Law 21414 immediately provoked the first anti-government demonstrations since the war with Russia started over three years ago. It also caused a sharp rebuke by many EU member states. Brussels announced that it was freezing support payments to Kyiv as a result of the bill. Zelenskiy was quickly forced into a humiliating climbdown and proposed the new Law 31533 to undo the damage.

The Verkhovna Rada approved the new bill in all three readings in one session and sent it to be signed by Zelenskiy, with the backing of 331 lawmakers, RBC-Ukraine reported. The legislation reinstates the authority NABU and SAPO, reversing a law adopted just over a week earlier that effectively stripped the agencies of their autonomy.

In response to the backlash, Zelenskiy submitted a new draft law on the evening of July 24 that, according to RBC-Ukraine, “essentially reverses the rollback of the anti-corruption agencies’ powers.” However, the previous Law 21414 remains in effect and was not cancelled.

The approval of the revised legislation came with another first: for the first time since the onset of the war, the parliamentary session was streamed live online as Bankova (Ukraine’s equivalent of the Kremlin) went into damage control mode. Zelenskiy also released a video post praising the passage of the law and spinning his about turn as a demonstration of Ukraine’s commitment to democracy.

"I want to thank all the lawmakers for passing my bill, now a law. I have just signed the document, and the text will be published immediately," Zelensky said on his Telegram channel. "There are guarantees for the proper, independent operation of anti-corruption bodies and all law enforcement agencies of our state."

 

Zelenskiy also signed off on a separate new law ensuring proper funding for defence forces and timely payments to soldiers and families. Additional measures include 15 extra days of leave for the military in August and new support for veteran-owned businesses.

However, the reversal exposed divisions within the president’s own party, as several law makers were against the climbdown. As bne IntelliNews reported, Zelenskiy faced a rebellion amongst his own Servant of the People party, with around 70 members resisting signing off on the new Law 31533.

The restoration of anti-corruption oversight is expected to be closely watched by Ukraine’s Western allies. The details of its text, and the resolution of the apparent legal problems of two laws on the books that prima facie contradict each other, will be scrutinised going forward.

Defence budget bill

During the special session, the Rada also signed off on an amendment to the 2025 state budget that increases defence spending by UAH412.3bn ($9.8bn), pushing total security-related expenditures to an estimated $50bn—or 26% of GDP—as the country continues its war effort against Russia.

The bill passed with 332 votes in favour, according to the official website of the Ukrainian government, reflecting broad cross-party support for expanded military funding.

The revised budget will be financed through a combination of increased tax revenues and expanded domestic borrowing, the government said.

Of the newly approved funds, UAH115bn ($2.7bn) is earmarked for military salaries across all branches of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. A further UAH216bn ($5.1bn) will be used for the procurement and production of weapons, military equipment, and drones, as Ukraine looks to bolster its domestic defence manufacturing capacity amid ongoing battlefield demands. Some 60% of revenue will go to the Defence Ministry, primarily for drones and weapons.

Defence and security spending has steadily increased since 2022, becoming the dominant line item in the national budget. The budget revision comes as Western support shows signs of strain, with delays in international assistance and uncertainty around future US funding. Ukraine’s total defence budget in 2021 stood at approximately $5.9bn, highlighting the extraordinary scale of the country’s wartime economic transformation.

Former Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in May that Ukraine's budget is fully funded for 2025 with outside help, but the government estimates over $40bn in foreign aid will be required in 2026 to sustain military and economic stability. Last week Zelenskiy said that Ukraine needs a total of $65bn of external funding to get through to the end of 2026, due to high anticipated military spending.