Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is once again under fire-not from Moscow, but from his own Western allies and former US officials following a controversial attempt to place the country’s leading anti-corruption institutions under executive oversight. The move, which critics say undermines democratic accountability and transparency, has triggered domestic protests and raised alarm among key donors in the European Union and the United States.

Among the most outspoken critics is Steve Cortes, a former advisor to US President Donald Trump and current president of the League of American Workers, who penned a scathing op-ed in Newsweek on July 25. In the piece, Cortes accused the Ukrainian leadership of behaving like “gangsters,” not democratic reformers, and urged Washington to reconsider its multibillion-dollar support for Kiev.

At the center of the controversy is Zelensky’s move earlier this month to bring National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under direct control of the executive branch. These agencies had long been regarded as independent watchdogs tasked with investigating high-level graft-a rampant issue in post-Soviet Ukraine. Zelensky’s administration claimed the shake-up was necessary due to “Russian influence” infiltrating the agencies, though no public evidence has been presented to support this claim.

However, critics saw it as a thinly veiled power grab.

“This raid reeks-and it smells like gangsterism,........

© Blitz