Crowds of demonstrators cheered in jubilation in Kyiv on July 31 as they celebrated a vote in Ukraine's parliament which approved new legislation to restore the independence of anti-corruption agencies.
The measure was supported by 331 deputies in the 450-seat parliament and opposed by none. It came after a law -- which many feared would curb corruption investigations -- passed last week, igniting the largest public protests since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
The new law restores the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP).
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post that he had now signed the bill into law.
"This guarantees the normal, independent work of anti-corruption bodies and all law enforcement agencies in our country," he wrote.
Zelenskyy, who signed the original legislation on July 22, said the intention of the law was to rid the agencies of Russian influence that had long made them susceptible to corruption.
But the limits on their independence enraged many Ukrainians -- especially younger people -- who immediately turned out for public protests even though Russian missiles and drones had rained down on Kyiv and other cities just hours earlier.
"People didn’t expect that it would be the youth who would come out in such numbers," said Anastasia Bezpalko, one of hundreds of people who took to the streets over the past week to protest the legislation.
"The youth simply realized that someone was trying to deceive them, and this very sharp sense of injustice emerged..." the 23-year-old told RFE/RL.
A day later, Zelenskyy did an about-face and proposed the new legislation to be introduced on July 31, saying he had heard the voice of the people and that the new bill will still address Russian-influence concerns, but not jeopardize the independence of anti-corruption bodies.
"NABU and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in Ukraine remain the last institutions capable of telling, let's say, some very unpleasant truths about Zelenskyy's team," Ukrainian investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov told RFE/RL's Current Time.
"For the first time in many years, NABU has refocused on its original mission: investigating corruption at the highest levels of government. This year, charges were brought against Oleksiy Chernyshov, the deputy prime minister, who is also a close family friend of the president -- the first lady, [Olena] Zelenska, is the godmother of his child," he added.
"It is very important that the state listens to public opinion. Ukraine is a democracy – there is no doubt about that," Zelenskyy wrote on July 31, following the vote in parliament.
Earlier, key Zelenskyy aide Andriy Yermak welcomed the vote in comments posted on social media.
"We have a wonderful civil society, wonderful youth, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hears. There is a rapid dialogue between the authorities and society," he wrote.
Newly appointed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote "this is a direct and responsible response to the expectations of Ukrainian society and our European partners. "
Deep-seated corruption in Ukraine has held back support for Kyiv in some Western quarters.
The protests came as Ukraine looks to the United States and other Western allies to pressure Russia into peace talks to end more than three years of war that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion.
