Iuliia Mendel

Iuliia Volodymyrivna Mendel (born 3 September 1986) is a Ukrainian journalist. She was the press secretary in the administration of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy from June 2019 until July 2021, leaving the post several months before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. During her tenure, she was accused of being physically aggressive towards journalists. After leaving her role as press secretary, she released two memoirs: Each of Us Is President, and The Fight of Our Lives - My Time With Zelenskyy, Ukraine's Battle for Democracy, and What it Means to the World. In both books, she praised Zelenskyy and spoke positively of her time as press secretary. By 2025, Mendel was calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war, saying that Ukraine was "losing its nation" by continuing to resist Russia. In a 2026 interview with Tucker Carlson, she launched a scathing attack on Zelenskyy's character and made various accusations against him and his government. The interview was widely condemned in Ukraine, with journalists and politicians saying she offered no evidence and accusing her of spreading Russian disinformation.