Yulia Mendel was notified in absentia of suspicion of high treason
Kyiv • UNN
The Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office notified Yulia Mendel in absentia of suspicion of high treason and justifying Russia’s aggression. The suspect is abroad.
The Security Service and the Office of the Prosecutor General have notified Yuliia Mendel in absentia of suspicion of conducting information and subversive activities against Ukraine, UNN reports, citing the SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Details
According to the SBU, the notice of suspicion was issued under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
▪️ Part 2 of Article 111 (high treason committed under martial law);
▪️ Parts 2 and 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, or denial of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine, and glorification of its participants).
As a result of comprehensive measures and relevant examinations, it was established that in her public statements and social media posts, Mendel discredits Ukraine on the international stage, as well as justifies the Kremlin regime and the full-scale war it launched against our country.
Since the suspect is outside Ukraine, comprehensive measures are ongoing to bring her to justice.
The investigation is being conducted by investigators of the SBU’s Main Investigative Department under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
We would add
As reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, the materials underlying the suspicion include her public statements in foreign media and social networks.
In particular, in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, she stated: "I believe that Ukraine is on the verge of disappearing," "You see, my nation is degrading."
She also claimed that democracy and freedom of speech are absent in Ukraine, saying, "There is no freedom of speech. The country is full of bans. Everything is prohibited," she said in the interview, comparing the situation in the country with the Soviet Union.
On her personal Facebook page, the suspect disseminated claims about allegedly benefiting from the continuation of the war, political patronage, propaganda, and the persecution of dissenters.
These and other statements were actively used by Russian state-run and pro-Kremlin media in their propaganda materials.
As part of the investigation, forensic examinations were conducted, which identified signs of destructive informational and psychological influence in the statements of the former press secretary.
Thus, the examinations established that her statements contain signs of undermining the foundations of national security in the information sphere. In addition, the experts concluded that there were signs of destructive informational and psychological influence aimed at harming Ukraine’s state and information security.
According to the experts’ conclusion, this influence is exerted through the dissemination of narratives and messages beneficial to the Russian Federation and contributes to the implementation of the objectives of its subversive activities against Ukraine in the information sphere.
According to the investigation, the dissemination of these materials was intended to create among international audiences the perception of Ukraine as a state that does not deserve further support, and of its leadership as an obstacle to achieving peace.
At the same time, within the country, these messages were aimed at intensifying disillusionment and demoralizing society.
In the view of the prosecution, this activity constituted assistance to the aggressor state in conducting subversive activities against Ukraine. In addition, the suspect is charged with producing and disseminating materials that contain justifications for the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began in 2014, in particular repeatedly