UPDATE: Zelensky signs law destroying independence of Ukraine's key anti-corruption bodies
kyivindependent.com
President Volodymyr Zelensky approved the law on July 22 despite large-scale protests against the law, which critics say undermines years of pro-democracy reforms.

The Ukrainian parliament on July 22 approved amendments that effectively destroy the independence of Ukraine’s two key anti-corruption institutions, according to opposition lawmakers and watchdogs.

The legislation grants the prosecutor general new powers over investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and cases led by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

The step comes as Ukrainian authorities ramp up pressure against the two agencies established as part of the anti-graft reforms after the EuroMaidan Revolution.

  • randomname@scribe.disroot.orgEnglish
    224·
    2 days ago

    @bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.com

    FYI, there is a lot of research and evidence of “strategic corruption”, meaning that a a government weaponizes corrupt practices as a tenet of its foreign policy, ranging from Germany’s far-right politician Petr Bystron who has been accused of receiving money from Russia in return for influence to Russian links to corruption in Moldova (pdf) and Russia’s corruption-themed propaganda war against Ukraine that said, for example:

    Russian state-sponsored strategic corruption campaign is almost certainly Ukraine. For the two decades preceding Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia employed a wide variety of corrupt measures to influence Ukrainian politics, including the sale of vast quantities of discounted fossil fuels to bribe pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs and create a political class aligned with Kremlin interests […]

    You’ll find much more. There is really a lot of evidence.

    • bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      46·
      2 days ago

      I don’t want to discount any of those sources and I don’t have much doubt this is happening right now in other places and happened in Ukraine prior to Russia’s invasion. But I doubt there’s anything there that suggests this is what’s happening in Ukraine in this case right now.

      Therefore I find it dishonest to bring it up alongside this, it really seems designed to completely dismiss this development.

          • randomname@scribe.disroot.orgEnglish
            121·
            2 days ago

            This question is dishonest to use your word, because no one know this. But there is ample evidence of Russia’s (often successful) attempts to interfere and exert influence over others countries, including Ukraine and other countries. There are examples here in this thread in the meantime.

            • bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
              57·
              2 days ago

              No, this question is a logical consequence of your initial suggestion: Corruption spreading from Russia. Maybe it was just common whataboutism, I don’t know. Then again, by saying now no one knows if Russia was indeed involved you go back to the original insinuation. I’m lost (

              • randomname@scribe.disroot.orgEnglish
                91·
                2 days ago

                I don’t know why you react so uneasy. No one can be happy if Russia is interfering in democratic societies, I hope you agree at least in this point.

                • bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
                  55·
                  2 days ago

                  Yeah, of course. I hope you also agree that it’s problematic that the US is interfering in democratic societies, I just don’t see how it’s relevant in this context.

                  • randomname@scribe.disroot.orgEnglish
                    71·
                    2 days ago

                    that the US is interfering in democratic societies, I just don’t see how it’s relevant in this context.

                    Yeah, it is also bad if the US is interfering in democratic societies, but it’s irrelevant in this context. I agree. Don’t know why you bring it up.