Authorities will continue attacks even if law restores NABU and SAPO independence — Semen Kryvonos

“If the law is passed, the attacks will continue — but they will be more subtle. The electrification of society will continue, as will messages that NABU and SAPO are ineffective: ‘You came to the wrong place, they do nothing, they do not achieve any results.’ The discrediting will intensify even more to prepare Ukrainian society that, after all, it is time to reform us,” Kryvonos said in an interview with Suspilne.

Kryvonos added that representatives from international institutions, including the U.S., the EU, and the World Bank, conducted an internal audit of NABU. During the audit, they identified shortcomings and provided recommendations.

According to him, NABU and SAPO leadership will implement these recommendations to become more effective and prevent future attacks.

“Because in a future attack it will be possible to not resist — we are clearly aware and understand this. Therefore, there are two components: work and communicate with society. Communicate with those people who currently support us,” Kryvonos emphasized.

The NABU director also urged lawmakers to adopt President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s bill on NABU and SAPO in full and immediately, “without stretching it for two weeks.”

“If there is only the first reading, it may actually delay this process indefinitely and create additional risks for us. Because all this time we cannot investigate cases effectively,” he explained.

The Verkhovna Rada is scheduled to consider Zelenskyy’s bill on NABU and SAPO on Thursday, July 31.

Scandalous Law No. 12414 on NABU and SAPO

On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of Bill No. 12414, which critics say aims to strip NABU and SAPO of their independence. Zelenskyy signed it that same evening. The law took effect July 23 after publication in the parliamentary newspaper Holos Ukrainy.

The law makes additional amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, proposed by MP Maksym Buzhansky (Servant of the People).

Under the law, the Prosecutor General is empowered to:

• Take cases from NABU and assign investigations to other bodies;

• Act as the de facto head of SAPO and delegate SAPO prosecutor powers to other prosecutors;

• Issue mandatory written instructions to NABU detectives;

• Independently close cases involving suspicion of high-ranking officials.

The law also significantly limits SAPO’s procedural autonomy.

Protests against the bill began July 22 in Kyiv and other cities including Odesa, Lviv, Dnipro, and Ivano-Frankivsk. Larger protests followed July 23-24 in many cities.

Despite demands to veto the bill, Zelenskyy signed it. In a video address late July 23, he said NABU and SAPO would continue their work but that the anti-corruption infrastructure must be “cleansed of Russian influences.” He later introduced a new bill on NABU and SAPO to the Verkhovna Rada that “will provide strength to the law enforcement system.”