The key facts

  • The Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General announced suspicion against former presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel
  • She is charged with high treason under martial law and justifying Russian aggression
  • Mendel is outside Ukraine; sanctions against her were imposed back in September

Suspicion on two counts

The Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General have announced suspicion against Yulia Mendel, former press secretary of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kun.uz outlet reported citing the press service of the Security Service of Ukraine. According to the investigation, Mendel is engaged in information and propaganda activities against Ukraine: in public statements and social media posts, she allegedly discredits the country on the international stage and justifies the war unleashed by Russia.

What exactly she is charged with

The suspicion has been announced under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law) and Parts 2 and 3 of Article 436-2 (justifying, recognizing as lawful or denying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, as well as glorifying its participants). The investigation is being conducted by detectives of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General. The announcement was published on the official Telegram channel of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Mendel is abroad; coercive measures are not yet possible

Since Mendel is outside Ukraine, no measures to bring her to justice are currently being taken — the Security Service of Ukraine said in its statement. This is not the first pressure on her from the authorities: in September 2026, President Zelensky imposed personal sanctions against her, signing a package of measures approved by the National Security and Defense Council. That list included ten citizens of Russia and Ukraine whom the authorities accused of spreading fakes and propaganda and supporting Russian aggression; Mendel was among them.

Background of the conflict

Earlier, Mendel publicly criticized the Ukrainian authorities. In May 2026, she gave an interview to Tucker Carlson in which, according to Kun.uz, she advanced a number of theses typical of Russian propaganda. In August of the same year, in an interview with the French outlet Le Journal, she called Zelensky 'a person who benefits the most from the war' and also accused him of authoritarianism and covering up corruption problems. It was after these statements that sanctions were first imposed on her, and now criminal suspicion has followed.