{"id":343,"date":"2025-07-23T03:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T03:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/?p=343"},"modified":"2025-07-23T14:09:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:09:03","slug":"protesters-chant-zelensky-is-the-devil-in-kiev-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/protesters-chant-zelensky-is-the-devil-in-kiev-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters chant \u2018Zelensky is the devil\u2019 in Kiev (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The demonstrators were outraged by a law curbing the independence of anti-corruption agencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Protesters in Kiev shouted insults at Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on Tuesday, denouncing his decision to back legislation curbing the independence of anti-corruption agencies.<\/p>\n

Zelensky had just signed a bill into law granting the Prosecutor General’s Office authority to intervene in the operations of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).<\/p>\n

The move followed security raids on NABU offices and the arrest of a senior official accused of spying for Russia. The legislation sparked concern in the EU and drew sharp criticism from opposition politicians.<\/p>\n

Demonstrators gathered in central Kiev, chanting “Zelya is the devil,”<\/em> using a mocking diminutive of Zelensky’s surname. Others shouted “Shame”<\/em> and “Treason,”<\/em> holding signs demanding the preservation of the anti-corruption system’s independence. The chants reportedly intensified after news broke that Zelensky had ignored calls to veto the bill.<\/p>\n

\n

"Zelya is the devil!" the protesters shout in Kiev. https:\/\/t.co\/gZspzFNJgH<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ToZMIBeMhL<\/a><\/p>\n

— Russian Market (@runews) July 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Similar demonstrations took place across Ukraine, including in Odessa and Dnepr – the country’s third- and fourth-largest cities. Rallies were also held in Lviv, near the Polish border, and in Sumy, an eastern city close to the front line with Russia.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Ukrainian
Ukrainian leader defends clampdown on anti-corruption agencies<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, a frequent critic of Zelensky, joined the protest in the capital. “It’s important for me to be here. Our partners created and funded the anti-corruption bodies, and over the past ten years did everything to ensure they could function. And now, the authorities want to strip them of their independence,”<\/em> the former boxing champion told the US state-funded Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Telegram, Klitschko accused Zelensky’s government of “using the war as a pretext to dismantle the anti-corruption agencies”<\/em> and pushing Ukraine toward authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

In a video address on Wednesday, Zelensky defended the new law as a necessary step to streamline corruption investigations and eliminate “Russian influence.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The demonstrators were outraged by a law curbing the independence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kirsavoltren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}