Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a keynote speech during the Berlin Security Conference on November 3, 2026 in Berlin. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Kyiv, Ukraine: The former press secretary to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Yulia Mendel, was informed in absentia on Tuesday that she was suspected of high treason, authorities in Ukraine said.
Yulia Mendel served as Zelensky's press secretary from his election in 2019 until 2021, several months before Russia invaded Ukraine.
The 40-year-old, who lives outside the country, has since become outspoken in denouncing her former boss, accusing him of corruption and creeping authoritarianism.
"Prosecutors... have gathered sufficient evidence to inform the former press secretary of the Ukrainian president that she is suspected of high treason and of justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine," the public prosecutor's office said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian authorities accused Mendel of "taking advantage of her public profile... to disseminate statements favourable to the aggressor state, with the aim of discrediting Ukraine".
The investigators criticised Mendel's claim that there was no free speech in Ukraine and that the country was "on the path towards extinction".
Her declarations represent "narratives to Russia's benefit" which "reinforce disenchantment and demoralise" Ukrainian society, the prosecutors said.
Mendel rejected the accusations, insisting in a post on Telegram that they "prove that I am right".
Zelensky had already imposed sanctions against Mendel.
While the ex-spokeswoman has criticised the Kremlin's campaign, she has also insisted that Kyiv needs to swiftly come to an agreement with Russia to ensure Ukraine's survival as a state.
In an interview with US talk show host Tucker Carlson earlier this year, she described the Ukrainian leader as "one of the biggest obstacles towards peace".
