Description: After the key parliamentary vote and Zelenskyy’s introduction of the law transferring oversight powers to himself over the independent anti – corruption institutions in Ukraine, the largest protests since the start of the war with Russia erupted over several Ukrainian cities. Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv, Kharkiv saw gatherings in protest of the law which effectively gives the Ukrainian President a unilateral mechanism to decide on corruption charges without multi – layered oversight of independent institutions. Ukrainians took to the streets as they demanded for the law to be vetoed or completely scrapped since it interfered with Ukraine’s democratic ambitions, hampered civil rights and protected corruption. In the evening address to the nation, Zelenskyy announced he would call for another vote in the Parliament, introducing a different bill without outlining any details. Ukraine and Russia also concluded their third round of mediated peace talks in Istanbul, where expectedly, no significant breakthroughs were achieved as the countries agreed on further prisoner exchanges and floated the idea of continued talks which would potentially lay the groundwork for a leaders meeting in the long – term.
Impact: Ukraine’s President has effectively backtracked his country’s efforts to lean towards its western partners by undermining elementary state mechanisms in the fight against corruption. Zelenskyy besides the mounting pressure from the persistent Russian offensives, now faces opposition from its population and criticism from its western partners. His scale back from the introduction of the bill would probably ease domestic tensions in the short – term, since Ukraine is still functioning in wartime conditions and all efforts are to be focused towards countering the Russian aggression. Crises such as this could be rapidly exploited by Russia, which could further pressurize Ukraine’s fragile government in future negotiations citing legitimacy and credibility reasons, following Zelenskyy’s introduction of the anti – corruption bill, as well as launching covert operations on Ukrainian soil to further subvert the country’s position in the war. The third round of negotiations emphasized that Ukraine and Russia are building diplomatic distance instead of converging towards any form of potential solution to the war.