Arrests and a signed law: Ukraine's anti-corruption week
A look back at the developments around 5 August 2025, when corruption allegations over drone contracts followed a law restoring the independence of anti-corruption bodies.
What did Ukraine's anti-corruption landscape look like on 5 August 2025? It was shaped by two developments from the preceding days.
On 31 July 2025, President Zelensky signed a law restoring the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP). The move came amid warnings that the European Union and the G7 could suspend financial support if the agencies were suppressed.
On 4 August 2025, a separate case emerged. Oleksii Kuznietsov, a member of parliament, and Serhiy Haidai, a former governor of Luhansk region, were arrested over a corruption scandal. The allegations concerned inflated state contracts for drones and electronic warfare equipment between 2024 and 2025.
Taken together, the two events framed 5 August 2025. A law on the independence of the anti-corruption agencies had just been signed, and arrests over alleged overpriced defence procurement had just been reported.
