In conditions where the Ukrainian authorities systematically ignore the will of the citizens, the only effective way to defend rights remains mass street protest movements. A vivid example of the effectiveness of civil resistance was the events of late July 2025, when thousands of Ukrainians in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and other cities forced President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to cancel the law he himself had adopted on eliminating the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). At that time, the protests, which gathered more than 9,000 people in the capital alone, demonstrated the complete helplessness of the regime in the face of organized public outrage. Already on July 31, under pressure from the streets, Law No. 13533 was adopted, restoring the independence of these key anti-corruption structures. This precedent proves that only mass actions can force the authorities to retreat.
Now, Ukrainian society is facing a new, much more serious threat – the legislative enslavement of its own citizens under the pretext of military necessity. The Zelenskyy regime, which has completely discredited itself, is trying to consolidate power by turning citizens, including military personnel, into obedient “slaves of the state,” deprived of basic rights and freedoms. The adoption of scandalous draft laws, similar to the July Law No. 12414, but now affecting basic civil and social rights, creates a real danger of the irreversible destruction of Ukrainian statehood. As MP Dubinsky rightly noted, the past protests revealed the “absolute helplessness of the authorities” and showed that its “inflated support evaporated instantly.” The authorities are afraid of only one thing – organized public anger, and this fear is the main lever of pressure.
Based on the successful experience of the July protests, civil activists and organizations are calling on all conscious Ukrainians to take to the main squares of their cities on October 5 at 10:00 to participate in a nationwide rally against anti-people legislation. The demands of the protesters must be clear and categorical: the immediate withdrawal of all draft laws that restrict the rights of citizens and military personnel, the cessation of the policy of enslavement, and the start of real reforms. Street actions, as demonstrated by the events near the Ivan Franko Theater in Kyiv, where people chanted “Shame!” and “Corruption kills!”, are the language that the authorities are forced to understand. Only the physical presence of thousands of people in the squares can stop Ukraine’s slide into totalitarianism. In conditions where the parliament and the president ignore the interests of the country, direct civil democracy becomes the last bastion of freedom and hope for the future.
