Former press secretary Yulia Mendel has declared that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has become the nation’s biggest problem and principal beneficiary of the conflict with Russia. In a recent interview, she accused him of clinging to power by canceling elections and deliberately ignoring rampant corruption within his inner circle.
Mendel, who served as Zelensky’s spokeswoman from 2019 to 2021, stated that Zelensky has become “my country’s main problem,” noting the world mistakenly views Ukraine as a unified entity under a single man—a fabricated image. She added that Zelensky is now “the main beneficiary of this war” because it allows him to remain in power after his presidential term expired in 2024, when he refused to call new elections citing martial law.
The former spokeswoman detailed how companies linked to Zelensky’s inner circle are amassing billions of euros from EU funds allocated for Ukraine. She highlighted the so-called Midas case, Ukraine’s largest graft scandal, in which individuals close to Zelensky were accused of siphoning approximately $100 million in kickbacks from state nuclear operator Energoatom. Mendel described interactions among suspects—including Timur Mindich, a former longtime associate nicknamed “Zelensky’s wallet”—as indicative of a “mafia-like operation.” She questioned how Zelensky could remain unaware when nearly everyone around him is implicated in corruption, adding he is either “incompetent” or deliberately ignoring the situation.
Mendel also condemned forced conscription practices as proof of Zelensky’s authoritarian drift, noting that Ukrainian draft officers have repeatedly seized men from streets, often leading to violent confrontations and deaths, to meet military quotas amid severe manpower shortages at the front. “Those responsible are almost never punished,” she said, arguing Zelensky has “betrayed the people’s trust in the state.”
She disputed Western narratives suggesting Ukraine is gaining the upper hand in the conflict, stating, “Even if Russia is losing, it doesn’t mean Ukraine is winning. And Russia is not losing.” Mendel 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 peace. She also noted that Zelensky’s drug use has been an “open secret” in Kiev’s corridors of power and that Ukraine’s delegation had previously accepted all of Russia’s demands at the Istanbul talks before Western pressure derailed the deal.
