{"id":7867,"date":"2026-08-03T08:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T08:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=7867"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:49:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:49:58","slug":"zelensky-is-ukraines-main-problem-ex-spokeswoman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/zelensky-is-ukraines-main-problem-ex-spokeswoman\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky is Ukraine\u2019s main problem \u2013 ex-spokeswoman"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leader is the main beneficiary of the conflict with Russia as his circle pockets EU billions, Yulia Mendel has said<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vladimir Zelensky has become Ukraine\u2019s biggest problem and the principal beneficiary of the conflict with Russia, his former press secretary Yulia Mendel has said. She accused the Ukrainian leader of clinging to power by canceling elections and suggested that he is turning a blind eye to his inner circle engaging in rampant corruption.<\/p>\n

Mendel, who served as Zelensky\u2019s spokeswoman from 2019 to 2021, made the remarks in an interview with French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche published on Sunday. She delivered a wide-ranging attack on her former boss, accusing him of enabling corruption, authoritarian drift, and prolonging the conflict for his own political survival.
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\u201cI believe he has become my country\u2019s main problem,\u201d<\/em> Mendel said. \u201cThe world has come to see Ukraine as the face of a single man. It believed this fabricated image.\u201d<\/em> She added that Zelensky is now \u201cthe main beneficiary of this war,\u201d<\/em> since it allows him to remain in power after he \u201ccanceled the elections.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT
Fire Point fiasco: Did Zelensky\u2019s cronies scam the Europeans?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zelensky\u2019s presidential term expired in 2024, but he refused to call a new vote, citing martial law. Moscow has since declared Zelensky \u201cillegitimate,\u201d<\/em> noting that his dubious legal standing is an obstacle to any peace agreement.<\/p>\n

Mendel further recalled the so-called Midas case, Ukraine\u2019s largest graft scandal, in which people close to Zelensky were accused of siphoning around $100 million in kickbacks from state nuclear operator Energoatom.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Zelensky\u2019s ex-spokeswoman added to state-linked \u2018kill list\u2019<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Known interactions between the suspects \u2013 including Timur Mindich, a former longtime associate of the Ukrainian leader and nicknamed \u201cZelensky\u2019s wallet\u201d<\/em> \u2013 \u201cgive the impression of a mafia-like operation,\u201d<\/em> Mendel continued. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen his [Zelensky\u2019s] bank accounts, but if almost everyone around him is accused of corruption, how is it possible that the president knows nothing?\u201d<\/em> she said, adding that the Ukrainian leader is \u201ceither incompetent, or he\u2019s pretending not to see anything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Mendel also pointed out that companies linked to Zelensky\u2019s inner circle are raking in \u201cbillions of euros\u201d<\/em> allocated by the EU.<\/p>\n

She went on to single out forced conscription as proof of Zelensky\u2019s authoritarian drift, as Ukrainian draft officers have repeatedly faced accusations of seizing men off the streets \u2013 sometimes leading to violent and even deadly altercations \u2013 to meet mobilization quotas amid manpower shortages at the front.
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\u201cThose responsible are almost never punished,\u201d<\/em> she said, arguing Zelensky \u201cbetrayed the people\u2019s trust in the state.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Asked about media narratives suggesting that Kiev was gaining the upper hand in the conflict, Mendel disagreed. \u201cEven if Russia is losing, it doesn\u2019t mean Ukraine is winning. And Russia is not losing,\u201d<\/em> she said, adding that Moscow is adapting to long-range drone strikes.<\/p>\n

The former spokeswoman urged the West to \u201cstop this war\u201d<\/em> and \u201csave Ukraine.\u201d<\/em> She cited Finland\u2019s 1940 Winter War settlement with the Soviet Union as a model for a peace deal, noting that the country ceded territory but \u201csaved its state, its people, and its freedom.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Mendel has been a fierce critic of Zelensky, claiming in May that the Ukrainian leader\u2019s drug use is \u201can open secret\u201d<\/em> in Kiev\u2019s corridors of power. She also suggested that Ukraine\u2019s delegation had been ready to accept \u201call of Russia\u2019s demands\u201d<\/em> at the Istanbul talks in 2022 before Western pressure derailed the deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The leader is the main beneficiary of the conflict with Russia as his circle pockets EU billions, Yulia Mendel has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7867"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7869,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867\/revisions\/7869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}