KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday submitted a new bill that would restore the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies in an effort to defuse tensions following his approval earlier this week of a controversial law that weakened their autonomy.
Zelenskyy said parliament would review the new bill, which “guarantees real strengthening of Ukraine’s law enforcement system, the independence of anti-corruption bodies, and reliable protection of the legal system from any Russian interference.”
Ukraine’s two main anti-graft agencies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office — quickly welcomed Zelenskyy’s new proposal, saying it restores all their procedural powers and guarantees their independence.
The agencies said they helped draft the new bill, and urged lawmakers to adopt it “as soon as possible” to prevent threats to ongoing criminal cases.
The bill would replace the contentious law passed by lawmakers and approved by Zelenskyy earlier this week. Critics said it stripped Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies of their independence by granting the government more oversight of their work.
After Thursday’s U-turn, Zelenskyy said the new bill reverses the earlier changes and also introduced additional measures aimed at “combating Russian influence,” including mandatory polygraph tests for law enforcement officers.
“The text is balanced,” Zelenskyy said. “The most important thing is real tools, no Russian ties and the independence” of the anti-graft agencies.
The new draft underlines that the prosecutor general and his deputies cannot give orders to anti-graft agencies or interfere in their work.
“It is important that we maintain unity,” Zelenskyy said in his post.
It was not immediately clear when the new bill will be voted on in the parliament, and the protests are likely to continue until the law is passed. At the protests on Thursday evening, the crowd was smaller than on previous days.
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.
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. It is also an effort that enjoys broad public support.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos expressed concern Wednesday over the law approved earlier this week, calling it “a serious step back.”
On Thursday, two women, aged 48 and 59, were killed and 14 other people were injured when Russian forces dropped four powerful glide bombs on Kostiantynivka, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, and shelled it with artillery, Donetsk regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.
Russian planes also dropped two glide bombs on the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Thursday morning, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. At least 42 people were wounded, including two babies, a 10-year-old girl and two 17 year olds, authorities said.
The southern city of Odesa, and Cherkasy in central Ukraine, were also hit overnight, authorities said. The drone and missile strikes on the cities wounded 11 people, including a 9-year-old, and damaged historic landmarks and residential buildings, officials said.
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 wounded 11 other people, local authorities said Thursday.
An oil depot was hit, officials said, without offering details.