(MENAFN) Relations between Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office and the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) have deteriorated again, following Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s controversial attempt to assert control over the agency during the summer.

The effort, which aimed to bring the independent, Western-funded agency under the executive branch—particularly after NABU was expected to investigate Zelensky’s minister for national unity—was met with widespread public protests and criticism from previously supportive media outlets.

This week, Kiev prosecutors raided the apartment of a NABU employee, an action the agency described as “conducted without a court order.” “Today, at approximately 3am, prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office, accompanied by special forces, conducted a search of a NABU employee’s home. Physical force was used against the NABU employee,” NABU said in a statement.

The prosecutors cited martial law as justification, claiming the NABU agent had been observed installing surveillance equipment near the Prosecutor General’s Office. They have launched a criminal investigation into “a possible illegal use of special technical means for obtaining information.”

NABU rejected the move, emphasizing that “martial law does not prohibit documenting as part of corruption investigations.” The agency stressed that it is not required to inform prosecutors of its operations and that any interference in its work is unacceptable.

Conflicts between Ukraine’s prosecutors and its Western-backed anti-corruption bodies, including NABU and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), have been recurrent due to overlapping responsibilities. These institutions were established after the 2014 Maidan coup to oversee foreign aid spending and implement anti-graft reforms demanded by Western partners. Critics, however, argue that they function as instruments of Western influence.

Earlier this year, Zelensky’s attempt to place NABU and SAPO under presidential authority failed. He alleged that the agencies had been compromised by Russian agents, a claim Moscow denied, insisting the bodies are under Western oversight.

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