To be honest, I don’t like the recent change — I believe the level of independence might decrease, but Ukraine is in a state of war… Zelenskyy said there are criminal and corruption cases that are not being investigated, and that there is Russian influence,” said Khatia Dekanoidze, a member of “Unity – United National Movement,” during the “Rezumé” program on PalitraNews, while discussing Ukraine’s anti-corruption legislation.

According to Dekanoidze, in times of war, it is very important that criminal justice moves in one direction — specifically toward investigating corruption cases and those involving oligarchs who have fled to Russia and elsewhere.

“Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau was established in 2015, at a time when we were implementing major reforms in Ukraine. This was after the Maidan revolution, and there was a serious demand for fighting crime and corruption to become one of the country’s top priorities.

To be honest, I don’t like this change — I believe the degree of independence could decrease. But Ukraine is at war, and Zelenskyy’s statement, which was released last night, followed numerous search operations. Zelenskyy said there are criminal and corruption cases that remain uninvestigated, cases that have been shelved, and that there is Russian influence involved. That’s why it [the bureau] wasn’t abolished, but rather placed under the Prosecutor’s Office.

This move was met with some dissatisfaction in Ukrainian society. However, on the other hand, Zelenskyy’s arguments are very specific — that the country is at war, and in wartime it is essential for criminal justice to focus in a clear direction and investigate the types of cases he mentioned: those of oligarchs and corrupt officials who have fled — some to Russia, others to different countries,” said Dekanoidze.

The opposition politician also responded to Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili’s remarks on the matter. According to her, the Speaker’s statement was weak and meaningless — more like an attempt to justify himself.

“To be honest, I had a hard time understanding what he meant by that statement. Recently, Shalva Papuashvili has turned into a Russian propagandist. I don’t think it’s even worth responding seriously. Unlike Papuashvili, I’ve spent many years fighting for freedom and democracy — including in Ukraine. Unlike him, I’ve fought Russians everywhere — in Ukraine, in Georgia, and I even worked in Moldova for two years.

His statement sounded more like self-justification, which reflects the nature of the current ‘Georgian Dream’ regime. They seem to believe that if they throw out some propaganda toxins and Papuashvili prepares another ‘drift’ of Russian propaganda, people will start thinking they aren’t aligned with Russia. It was a weak statement. Papuashvili, frankly, means nothing — politically, morally, or in terms of his position. None of them mean anything. They are simply proxies of Bidzina Ivanishvili. They act as if they deeply care about Ukraine and are its biggest supporters,” Dekanoidze said.