Ukraine's Security Service Notifies Former Presidential Press Secretary Mendel of Treason Suspicion in Absentia
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office announced on November 3 that they had notified Yuliia Mendel, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former press secretary, in absentia that she is suspected of treason. Prosecutors said Mendel is suspected of treason committed under martial law and of justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, under Part 2 of Article 111 and Parts 2 and 3 of Article 436-2 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, provisions that carry 15 years in prison up to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Mendel, 40, served as Zelenskyy's press secretary from 2019 to 2021 and now lives outside Ukraine, which is why the notice was served in absentia. The SBU said investigators believe Mendel used the public profile she gained as presidential spokesperson to spread statements favorable to the aggressor state and discrediting Ukraine through social media posts and interviews with Western media, and said steps are under way to bring her before Ukrainian courts. On September 13, Zelenskyy signed Decree No. 901/2026 putting into effect a National Security and Defense Council decision sanctioning 10 people including Mendel, the only Ukrainian citizen on the list.
Mendel rejected the accusations. She said the case rests on her public criticism of corruption among Zelenskyy's inner circle, the lack of free speech and political persecution in Ukraine, including remarks in her May 2026 interview with American commentator Tucker Carlson, and said the treason notice itself proved she was right. She also noted that officials do not allege direct cooperation with Russia, claiming instead that narratives she supplied were later exploited by Moscow.
Mendel was one of the most prominent spokespeople of Zelenskyy's early presidency and has since become one of his sharpest Ukrainian critics. The case is at the suspicion-notice stage; the accusations have not been tested in court.
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Source: Security Service of Ukraine
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：尤利娅·门德尔资料图。CC BY-SA 4.0，摄影 Vitalii Rudenko，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Yuliia Mendel, file photo. CC BY-SA 4.0, by Vitalii Rudenko, via Wikimedia Commons.
