The European Commission said Tuesday that it was “seriously concerned” by the vote in the Ukrainian parliament, illustrating the depth of unease in Brussels where criticism of Kyiv is vanishingly rare.
Meaghan Mobbs, the daughter of U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, called the lawmakers’ decision “mind-bogglingly stupid” and a gift to critics advocating against further military aid to Ukraine as it resists Russia’s aggression.
Oleksandr Teren, a 29-year-old former Ukrainian serviceman who lost both legs fighting the Russian army, also came to the protest in Kyiv.
“This is a malicious law that should not be adopted during wartime. Strangely, lawmakers adopted it even though people are against it,” Teren said.
“It is so hard for servicemen to find motivation to keep fighting Russian advances. We’re losing kilometers of land. And these kinds of decisions demotivate us. Hard to fight for people who adopt such laws,” the war veteran added.
The law was originally proposed by several lawmakers from Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, with the aim of changing Ukraine’s criminal code regarding pretrial investigations while martial law is in effect, but last-minute amendments targeting the corruption watchdogs triggered the country-wide backlash.
Zelenskyy has not yet addressed the protests or informed the Ukrainian public whether he has signed the bill.