Statements by Daria Kaleniuk, director of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, about Zelenskyy during a CNN broadcast were picked up by Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who is close to Putin. After this, Kaleniuk was accused online of aiding Russian propaganda and compared to former presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel, Ukrainski Novyny reports.
As blogger Maksym Yeromin writes, while Mendel tells English-speaking audiences about the horrors of mobilization in Ukraine, Kaleniuk criticized Zelenskyy on CNN, who is allegedly preparing for elections.
The blogger drew attention to how Kaleniuk’s statements were used in Russia. Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev shared an excerpt from Kaleniuk’s interview. Dmitriev called it a "turning point" and stated that the "Western narrative is changing sharply and quickly."
"Success came to Kaleniuk earlier than to Mendel, because Dasha is being reposted by Kirill Dmitriev himself. She fought corruption so hard that she accidentally became a Russian propagandist," Yeromin writes.
As previously reported, the total funding of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre as of the end of 2024 amounted to millions of dollars. The ACC has 2 beneficial owners: Daria Kaleniuk and Vitaliy Shabunin. The latter is suspected by law enforcement of evading military service and fraud.