Ukraine's Zelenskyy promises safeguards after street protests over a new anti-corruption law
After meeting with the heads of Ukraine's key anti-corruption and security agencies, Zelenskyy promised to act on their recommendations by presenting a bill to Parliament that strengthens the rule of law.
'And very importantly: all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place,' Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address late Wednesday.
Zelenskyy acknowledged the controversy triggered by the new corruption law, which also drew rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups.
'It's not falling on deaf ears,' Zelenskyy said of the complaints. 'We've analyzed all the concerns, all the aspects of what needs to be changed and what needs to be stepped up.'
However, he didn't promise to revoke the law that he approved.
The legislation that was adopted this week, despite pleas for Zelenskyy to veto it, tightened government oversight of two key anti-corruption agencies. Critics said the step could significantly weaken the independence of those agencies and give Zelenskyy's circle greater influence over investigations.
The protests haven't called for Zelenskyy's ouster. But the first major anti-government demonstrations since the war began come at a tough time for Ukraine in its three-year battle to thwart Russia's invasion.
Russia's bigger army is accelerating its efforts to pierce Ukraine's front-line defenses and is escalating its bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Ukraine is also facing a question mark over whether the United States will provide more military aid and whether European commitments can take up the slack, with no end to the war in sight.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for a third round of talks in as many months Wednesday. But once again the talks were brief and delivered no major breakthrough.
Zelenskyy had insisted earlier Wednesday that the new legal framework was needed to crack down harder on corruption. Fighting entrenched corruption is crucial for Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid in the war.
'Criminal cases should not drag on for years without verdicts, and those working against Ukraine must not feel comfortable or immune from punishment,' he said.
Meanwhile, Russian planes dropped two powerful glide bombs on the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Thursday morning, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. At least 16 people were injured, including a 10-year-old girl who suffered an acute stress reaction, he said.
The southern Ukrainian city of Odesa and Cherkasy in central Ukraine were also hit overnight, authorities said. The drone and missile strikes on the cities injured 11 people, including a 9-year-old, and damaged historic landmarks and residential buildings, officials said.
Monday Mornings
The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week.
Ukraine has sought to step up its own long-range drone attacks on Russia, using domestic technology and manufacturing.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi killed two women and injured 11 other people, local authorities said Thursday.
An oil depot was hit, officials said, without offering details.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
a minute ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pierre Poilievre and the ballot box
Opinion The Aug. 18 vote in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot is more than a byelection to fill a vacant seat in Parliament. It is, for all intents and purposes, a referendum on one man's relevance in Canadian politics. That man is of course Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party of Canada leader who failed in his re-election bid for the Ottawa-area constituency of Carleton, which he lost to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy in April's federal election. Despite having increased the CPC's seat count (from 120 to 144) and share of the popular vote, Poilievre's electoral failure was twofold, losing his own seat as well as not delivering the Conservative majority that was, mere months earlier, considered a foregone conclusion. ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre Having successfully harnessed Canadians' dissatisfaction with then-prime minister Justin Trudeau's government, Poilievre had built such an overwhelming lead in public-opinion polls that it was assumed the next election would propel the CPC to a massive majority. But the smooth-paved path to a Conservative coronation was suddenly made very bumpy, first by Trudeau's resignation and second by a sudden shift in Canadian attitudes. For the past half-decade, Poilievre's strategy for attracting would-be voters into the CPC tent involved not much more or less than mirroring whatever seemed to be working for Donald Trump south of the border. Insults, name-calling, concocting alternate-reality 'facts,' demonizing opponents and the media, pandering to the extreme fringes of the right … you name it; if it worked for Trump, Poilievre seemed eager to give it a go. And it worked well — until it didn't. Trump's tariff threats and unhinged musings about annexing Canada as the 51st U.S. state did not sit well here; rather abruptly, trying to sound and act like Trump became the absolute worst thing for a Canadian politician to do. Poilievre, trapped in the Trump-lite image he had worked so diligently to create, saw his prime ministerial aspirations evaporate. On election night in Carleton — a Conservative stronghold he had held since 2004, through seven federal elections — Poilievre lost by more than 4,500 votes. The CPC remained in opposition; leader Poilievre was on the outside looking in and looking for a way back in. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. He and the party decided the most direct route back to Parliament Hill runs through Battle River-Crowfoot, a riding so deep Tory blue that incumbent CPC candidate Damien Kurek received 82.8 per cent of the votes cast last spring. At the first available opportunity, Kurek resigned so Poilievre could run in his place. The polling agency 338Canada currently puts the odds of Poilievre winning the byelection at 99 per cent. But that doesn't mean it won't get messy. Thanks to the mischief-inclined Longest Ballot Committee, more than 200 candidates have registered, forcing Elections Canada to create special ballots. And some in the rural constituency are unhappy that a 'parachute' candidate — one who's now touting his deep Alberta roots despite having left oil country behind more than two decades ago — is being foisted on them rather than the true-blue Albertan they chose as their MP. At a candidates' forum on Tuesday night, military veteran and independent candidate Bonnie Critchley — a self-described staunch conservative who voted for Kurek and views his exit to make room for Poilievre as cynical — put it this way: 'I firmly believe that Mr. Poilievre is too busy with his personal ambitions to give a rat's backside about us.' Time will tell how many more in this sparsely populated patch of eastern Alberta agree. Poilievre's reputation, and relevance, are on the line. Anything less than a massive landslide win will surely be viewed as a second consecutive ballot-box repudiation.
Toronto Star
31 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Russia hits Kyiv with missile and drone attack, killing 6 and injuring 52
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Ukraine's capital with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least six people including a 6-year-old boy, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said at least 52 other people were injured in the attacks, and that the number was likely to rise.
Winnipeg Free Press
31 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
How an LGBTQ+ cafe's neon sign became a beacon for hate in Berlin
BERLIN (AP) — A neon sign inside the Das Hoven cafe in a trendy Berlin neighborhood proudly proclaims 'QUEER AND FRIENDS.' The sign was intended to show the cafe is a safe space for LGBTQ+ people. But it has also become a beacon for hate and homophobic attacks. Owner Danjel Zarte said there are 45 pending criminal investigations related to the cafe over the past year and a half, ranging from verbal and physical attacks on patrons and workers to windows being broken or covered in feces and swastika graffiti. One person even stood outside the cafe with a gun. 'An act of terror,' Zarte said. 'I sometimes have panic attacks in the morning and am afraid to look at my cell phone because I'm afraid that something has happened again.' Attacks against queer people and gay-friendly establishments are rising across Germany, including in Berlin, a city that has historically embraced the queer community. Last year, there was a 40% increase in violence targeting LGBTQ+ people in 12 of Germany's 16 federal states as compared to 2023, according to the Association of Counseling Centers for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist and Antisemitic Violence. Activists say those figures only show a fraction of the probem's scope because victims are often afraid to come forward. They partly blame the rise of the far-right across Europe, including in Germany where the Alternative for Germany party made significant gains in the February election. Hostility toward LGBTQ+ people serves as a 'rallying cry' for believers in right-wing extremism, according to Judith Porath, the association's managing director. Experts have seen an increase in demonstrations and violence among neo-Nazis, most of whom are young men. Bastian Finke, the head of MANEO, an organization tracking anti-gay violence in the capital city, said those who are openly queer on Berlin's roads 'automatically run a very, very high risk simply because of who they are. To be attacked, to be insulted, to be spat on. We have these scenarios every day.' The fear was palpable at Saturday's Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin. The annual Pride event commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York City, when a spontaneous street uprising was triggered by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. 'The mood is actually tense: People are afraid, they are unsettled,' Thomas Hoffmann, a member of the event's executive board, said Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of people showed up for the celebration, dancing to techno beats as they marched to the iconic Brandenburg Gate. 'That is really a powerful, wonderful sign for more equality,' Hoffmann added. Hoffmann and others have long wanted German lawmakers to amend the constitution to explicitly include the legal protection of queer people from discrimination based on gender identity. But that looks unlikely to become a political priority. For Zarte, the stress of hate crimes and politics is nonstop, except during the Christopher Street Day parade, which always brings him to tears. 'It is very moving to feel completely accepted once a year,' he said. ___ Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin contributed to this report.
