"Yermak told president that Armenia bought Bellingcat to attack him," - Mendel
Former press secretary to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Yuliia Mendel, recalled the events of 2020 related to the scandal surrounding the operation against the Wagner Group militants, known as "Wagnergate," and the role of the then head of the President's Office, Andrii Yermak.
She spoke about this in an interview with Radio Liberty, as reported by Censor.NET.
Mendel said that during one of the conversations in the presence of Zelenskyy, Yermak emotionally explained why the topic of the operation appeared in the publications of the international research group Bellingcat.
"The president asked why major foreign media outlets were writing about this. Andrii Borysovych said that he knew why they were writing about it and that he was 1000% sure that they were attacking him specifically because Bellingcat had been bought out by Armenia," Mendel said.
The former press secretary noted that she considered such statements legally and factually impossible. According to her, Yermak argued his position emotionally, "shouting, waving his arms, shouting about 1000 percent."
Mendel described the episode as an example of information being presented in a "senseless and conspiratorial" manner, and emphasized that Yermak's influence on communications in the President's Office was very significant.
"You don't understand the level of influence this person has" and "you can't imagine the scale," said the former press secretary.
More about Wagner
Wagner PMC is a Russian armed group, an international criminal and terrorist organization, staffed by mercenaries and convicted criminals. It ceased to exist in 2023 after the death of its leader, iyvgeny Prigozhin.
