Yeah in South Africa when our then President, Jacob Zuma, disbanded our independent corruption body, the Scorpions, that started basically corruption on such a scale, even had a commission of inquiry for state capture. Just look at South Africa's growth since then, basically entrenched poverty and joblessness to our countrymen.

Be afraid Ukraine, even if Zelensky has good intentions, what about the next president. All the advice I can give you is to become active, continue putting pressure on your elected officials. The people have the power, especially through the ballot

Can someone in the know explain why this is actually happening?

Is there actually russian influence on the organisation that needs to be rooted out or is this an internal faction battle?

I am also curious to know if this is in anyway related to the corruption investigation that was happening on V Zelensky before the invasion. (IIRC)

I don't know the exact situation, however right now in Bulgaria, the anti-corruption commission is one of the levers used to harass political opponents.

It would not be too surprising if that's the case.