Anger has boiled over after attempts by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to overhaul agencies investigating claims that insiders skimmed military spending.

The express approval of the new anti-corruption law triggers the first protests against the government since the start of the Russian invasion. The president promises to reform these agencies within two weeks while the public suspects it is a move to protect his inner circle.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on Friday.

Volodymyr Zelensky was once Ukraine’s saviour. In the first hours of the Russian invasion, as Putin’s paratroopers advanced on Central Kyiv with specific orders to kill him, Zelensky refused to evacuate.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill limiting two Ukrainian anticorruption agencies. After street protests and other criticism, he said he would propose a new law restoring their independence.

Kyiv and Moscow will hold a new round of peace talks — the first in seven weeks — on Wednesday in Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded four Ukrainian cities in nighttime attacks that officials said killed a child.