Stefanchuk calls Mendel interview manipulation, story about giving up Donbas fabricated

Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk considers former presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel’s interview with U.S. blogger Tucker Carlson to be manipulation through which fabricated stories about the "surrender of Donbas" are being promoted.

"This is a banal copy of the Russian ‘not everything is so clear-cut.’ And it is through this manipulation that fabricated stories about the ‘surrender of Donbas’ and proposals to trade land for the sake of imaginary salvation are now being sold," Stefanchuk said on Facebook on Tuesday.

Commenting on the interview, he expressed the opinion that when no one remembers a person, they develop "a need to remind people of themselves at any cost, even if that cost is conscious work for the enemy."

"The truth is that the President of Ukraine has never considered surrendering people and land as a path to peace. And parliament is absolutely united with the head of state in this position. It has remained principled from the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine until today," the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament said.

According to him, a state cannot be preserved by handing it over to the enemy piece by piece.

"Ukraine is saved not by capitulation disguised as compromise, but by the daily feat of the Defense Forces and the tireless work of every Ukrainian man and woman for victory. Therefore, let us maintain information hygiene, support our army and unite around Ukrainian state institutions," Stefanchuk said.

As reported, Mendel, who headed the presidential press service from 2019 to 2021, called Zelenskyy "one of the main obstacles to peace" during an interview with Tucker Carlson. She also said Ukraine was "on the brink of disappearing" and "declining," and claimed there were manifestations of "unhealthy nationalism" in the country. She also added that Ukraine in 2022, during talks with Russia, was allegedly ready to give up Donbas.