After a leave of absence, former press secretary to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Iuliia Mendel, 34, will serve as a freelance advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, Babel.ua reported on July 8.
Mendel will advise Yermak on relations with foreign media. The date of her return is not yet specified.
Mendel filed her resignation from her post as Zelensky’s spokesperson on April 30, according to the Office of the President. On June 9, Zelensky signed a decree on her resignation. Mendel took charge of the president’s press service in June 2019, weeks after Zelensky took office.
Mendel was often criticized for her aggressive communication with journalists and verbal blunders as well as her views that Ukraine has its own version of the Russian language, which is part of Ukrainian culture.
Mendel entered a firestorm of criticism when she started appearing regularly on the TV program Dom, which many saw as a potential conflict of interest. Dom is a Russian-language TV channel aimed at parts of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russian-backed militants.
The region is predominantly Russian-speaking and is inundated with Kremlin-funded propaganda. The channel is meant to deliver an objective picture of what is happening in Ukraine.
Mendel is no longer a regular guest on the show. Serhiy Nikiforov, the host of the Ukraine 24 TV channel, is about to be officially appointed to the former post of Mendel.
