🇺🇦 Zelensky's former press secretary Yulia Mendel says he is the "main beneficiary of this war."

In an interview with French outlet Journal du Dimanche, Mendel — who served as Zelensky's spokeswoman from 2019 to 2021 — said the war has kept him in power and enriched his inner circle.

"I believe that today Zelensky is the main beneficiary of this war. Thanks to it, he remains in power, having cancelled elections. Companies linked to those close to him revolve around him, receiving billions of euros from the European Union," she said.

Mendel said that as early as 2022 she began to see "mechanisms of corruption, manipulation, growing censorship, and a retreat from democracy," concluding that Zelensky "values his own power and financial flows more than his country."

She separately slammed forced mobilization, describing Ukrainian military recruitment officers as people who "grab men off the streets and illegally detain them," with some detainees "jumping out of windows or dying." These methods, she argued, have eroded Ukrainians' trust in the state and their will to fight: "The state accuses those who flee the country, and the people accuse the state." She called on the West to push for an end to the war.

Mendel has criticized Zelensky before — this spring she called him a drug addict, after which she was added to the Myrotvorets kill list.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics

🔘The Strait of Hormuz will be administered by Iran in coordination with Oman, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said

“From 1968 until the outbreak of the war, there was a route that ran entirely through Omani territorial waters, and we did not interfere with it from 1968 onward. Then, in 1974, it was reaffirmed in some way, and in 1979 and 1980, that same route was reopened.

“And here is what happened: in the fifth clause of the memorandum of understanding on ending the war, we stipulated—and the other side agreed—that the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz would be carried out by Iran in coordination with Oman. Through dialogue with the countries of the region, we did our part. During the 22–23 days in which the agreement was being implemented, the northern route was completely safe, and vessels passed through freely. Unfortunately, however, the United States did not even allow the 30-day period stipulated in Clause 5 of the memorandum for maritime traffic to return to its pre-war level to elapse.”

According to Baghaei, negotiations between Iran and Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz are bilateral, and other countries have no involvement in them.

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