(24 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine – 23 July 2025
1. Various of people protesting against new anti-corruption bill near Presidential Office of Ukraine
2. Close of posters
3. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Yaroslav Horanskyi, Ukrainian war veteran and protester:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT 1 AND IS PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 4++
"Corruption is very dangerous at any time. And if you look at it this way, then corruption has led us to some extent to the fact that we are now at war. If there is corruption, we will not have weapons, we will not have money to support our military, treat our military, provide prosthetics, and so on. I think it is very strange that at this time we have to stand against corruption, and not stand together with ministers, deputies, and so on against the aggressor."
4. Various of protesters
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lviv, Ukraine – 23 July 2025
5. Various of protesters, some holding signs
6. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Yana (no last name given), protester:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 7++
“And I don’t like that the government is now taking away this opportunity from us, our future, which we are actually fighting so hard for, gnawing away at Russia. I want us all to be in the European Union, that’s why we are here.”
7. Various of protesters
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kharkiv, Ukraine – 23 July 2025
8. Various of protesters chanting and marching
STORYLINE:
Ukrainians took to the streets for a second day to protest a new law they say weakens Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs.
The legislation, which has also drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups, has put increased pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and endangered his public support at a critical phase of the war.
Discontent over the law led to the first major demonstration against the government in more than three years of war, marking the most serious fracture yet in the national unity that has helped Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion.
In Kyiv, thousands of people gathered near the Ukrainian Presidential Office to protest against the law.
Protesters in Kharkiv gathered and chanted slogans, expressing fear that the law will move the country away from European integration and support and closer to authoritarianism.
About 1,500 people gathered in the square in front of the Shevchenko monument in the center of Lviv.
The legislation tightens government oversight of two key anti-corruption agencies.
Critics say the step could significantly weaken the independence of those agencies and give Zelenskyy’s circle greater influence over investigations.
Zelenskyy acknowledged the protests and criticism in his nightly address Wednesday, and he said government and law enforcement agencies had agreed to come up with specific steps to “strengthen the rule of law in Ukraine.”
Those recommendations, he said, would lead to a bill he would propose to parliament to safeguard the autonomy of the agencies.
AP Video shot by Vasilisa Stepanenko and Hnat Holyk
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