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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Former presidential press secretary of Ukraine Yuliia Mendel sharply criticized the practice of forceful mobilization and said that its supporters should be prepared to go to the front themselves. She also linked the current system to corruption risks, human rights violations, and low motivation among some of those mobilized.
Mendel wrote this in a column published by Ukrainski Novyny.
In the former spokeswoman for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s view, people who support forceful mobilization in its current form should be ready to join the military themselves.
She specifically emphasized that this applies to women as well, since Ukrainian law does not prohibit them from serving with weapons, operating drones, or carrying out tasks directly at the front.
“I sincerely believe that everyone who supports forceful mobilization in the form in which it exists must go to the front,” Mendel said.
Her post appeared after a public dispute with World Bank employee Nataliia Konovalenko.
According to Mendel, Konovalenko reacted negatively to her criticism of forceful mobilization.
The former presidential press secretary claims that only a small portion of mobilized men ultimately end up directly at the front, and that the system itself creates significant corruption risks.
She also mentioned reports of beatings, cruel treatment, and deaths in the premises of the territorial recruitment centers (TRCs), stressing that she considers such cases unacceptable.
Mendel’s cited estimates regarding the scale of corruption and the share of mobilized personnel who reach the front are her own assertions in the column.
A separate part of Mendel’s post was devoted to her personal dispute with Konovalenko.
She noted that the World Bank employee has the opportunity to work abroad and, in Mendel’s view, is in a significantly more protected position than most Ukrainian men subject to mobilization.
Mendel also said she intends to clarify with the World Bank whether the statements of its employee correspond to the institution’s official position.
She questioned whether it is acceptable for an employee of an international organization to take part in public political disputes and make personal attacks against former Ukrainian officials.
Mendel herself previously worked as a communications consultant at the World Bank for about two and a half years, after which she entered politics.
From 3 June 2019 to 9 July 2021 she was press secretary to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Мендель закликала прихильників силової мобілізації самим іти на фронт". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Expert.
