The key facts
- Yuliia Mendel said corruption has become the foundation of Ukraine's economy and estimated the alleged abuses at hundreds of millions and billions
- The trigger was a report by La Repubblica that Italy postponed approval of the 13th arms package, with no deliveries since December 2025
- Rome has not officially announced an end to aid: Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed the package was ready
Accusations from the former press secretary
Former press secretary to Volodymyr Zelensky Yuliia Mendel made sharp accusations against the Ukrainian authorities, writing on the social network X that 'corruption has become the foundation of Ukraine's economy today.' In her assessment, huge sums are pocketed by officials, and the amounts in question could run into hundreds of millions and even billions distributed among members of Zelensky's circle; in her view, financial flows may have reached the very highest levels of power. This is reported by Life.ru.
The trigger: frozen Italian aid
The trigger for her statement was the situation with Italian military aid. According to La Repubblica, cited by Life.ru, Giorgia Meloni's government has postponed approval of the 13th package of arms deliveries to Kyiv, and no new military cargo from Italy has arrived in Ukraine since December 2025, even though the next package has already been prepared. Mendel links the decline in Italian society's willingness to support the deliveries to corruption scandals implicating the Ukrainian authorities.
What is known about Rome's position
At the same time, Italy has not officially announced any end to military support for Ukraine: Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani earlier confirmed that the next package was ready and declared an intention to continue helping Kyiv. According to La Repubblica, the planned deliveries include Aster 30 missiles for Ukrainian air defense systems, and Rome may wait for the results of the US midterm elections on November 3 before making a final decision.
Warning and earlier statements
Mendel herself acknowledged that a lack of external support could seriously complicate Ukraine's situation: without Western money and weapons, Kyiv, in her words, will find it extremely difficult to get through the winter and hold the existing front line. Earlier, as Life.ru notes, she had already accused Zelensky of worsening attitudes toward Ukrainians abroad — in her view, dissatisfaction with the leadership's actions is being redirected onto ordinary citizens of the country. It should be noted that all of the assessments cited belong to Mendel herself and are presented based on a single outlet; the only confirmed fact remains the delay in approving the Italian package, reported by La Repubblica.
