Zelensky imposes sanctions on former press secretary Yulia Mendel, Rostec-linked firms and shadow-fleet tankers
President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 13, 2026 signed three decrees enacting National Security and Defense Council decisions imposing personal sanctions on his former press secretary Yulia Mendel and nine Russian nationals, sanctions on 29 Russian citizens and 29 entities linked to defense conglomerate Rostec, and ten-year sanctions on 20 vessels of the Russian shadow fleet. The Mendel sanction, the first against a former member of his own inner circle, follows her May 2026 interview with Tucker Carlson in which she alleged Zelensky was willing to hand over Donbas and accused him of money laundering and drug use. Mendel called the measures anti-constitutional and said she expects a state treason charge.
Key points
- Decree No. 901/2026 imposes 10-year personal sanctions (some measures indefinite) on Yulia Mendel; she is the only Ukrainian citizen on a 10-person list that also names nine Russian nationals.
- Decree No. 899/2026 sanctions 29 Russian citizens and 29 entities linked to state corporation Rostec; adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk said Rostec supplies up to 80% of armaments used against Ukraine, including Iskander and Kinzhal missiles and strike drones.
- Decree No. 900/2026 imposes 10-year sanctions on 20 shadow-fleet tankers sailing under Liberian, Marshall Islands, Sierra Leonean, Barbadian and Palauan flags, used to export Russian oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas to India, Egypt and Turkey.
- Sanctions against Mendel were proposed by the Security Service of Ukraine and include a specific restriction blocking access from Ukrainian territory to her Instagram, X and Facebook pages.
- Catalyst was Mendel's May 2026 interview with Tucker Carlson, in which she claimed Zelensky was ready to cede Donbas and the 2022 Istanbul delegation would have agreed to all Russian demands; the Office of the President said she had no role in negotiations and called her statements unserious.
- Mendel responded on Facebook calling the sanctions anti-constitutional and politically timed days before her scheduled September 16 European Parliament appearance in Strasbourg at an event organized by Germany's far-right AfD party.
- Ukraine says it will share the gathered evidence with international partners to synchronize sanctions in other jurisdictions.
Why it matters
The decree marks the first time Zelensky has sanctioned a former member of his own inner circle, turning a personal staff relationship into a national-security case. The Mendel list is packaged with two material sanctions tracks — Rostec-linked defense suppliers and Russian shadow-fleet tankers — so Kyiv has tied its information-warfare sanctions to the wartime infrastructure sustaining Russia's war. Ukraine's stated intent to share the underlying evidence with partners signals an attempt to extend the case beyond its own jurisdiction.
What happened
On September 13, 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed three decrees enacting National Security and Defense Council decisions on sanctions. Decree No. 901/2026 imposes personal sanctions on Yulia Mendel, his press secretary from June 2019 to mid-2021, and on nine Russian nationals accused of disseminating disinformation and Russian propaganda; Mendel is the only Ukrainian on the 10-person list. The restrictions, set for ten years with some measures indefinite, include asset blocking, a ban on trade operations, prevention of capital withdrawal, an entry ban to Ukraine, revocation of state awards and — uniquely for Mendel — a block on access from Ukrainian territory to her Instagram, X and Facebook pages. Decree No. 899/2026 sanctions 29 Russian citizens and 29 Rostec-linked entities said to be in the supply chains for missiles, drones and dual-use goods, including firms Interprofavia, Kalashnikov-GSN, Triada-Tactics and Shvabe-Media. Decree No. 900/2026 imposes ten-year sanctions on 20 shadow-fleet tankers sailing under Liberian, Marshall Islands, Sierra Leonean, Barbadian and Palauan flags that carry Russian oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas to India, Egypt and Turkey. The package was proposed by the Security Service of Ukraine, and Kyiv says it will share the evidence with international partners to synchronize sanctions abroad. The Mendel measure follows her May 2026 interview with Tucker Carlson, in which she claimed the 2022 Istanbul delegation would have agreed to all Russian demands and that Zelensky was willing to cede Donbas, and accused him of money laundering and drug use; the Office of the President said she had no role in negotiations and called her claims unserious, while the Center for Countering Disinformation said the narratives aimed to discredit Ukrainian leadership and undermine international support.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets uniformly describe the package as a National Security and Defense Council decision enacted by presidential decree, treating it as a standard legal procedure rather than a political act. Coverage foregrounds the disinformation and propaganda justification, citing the Center for Countering Disinformation and the Office of the President, and emphasizes the practical wartime impact of the Rostec and shadow-fleet sanctions rather than the personal Mendel angle. Reporting highlights the decree numbers, the proposing role of the SBU and the full list of ten sanctioned individuals, presenting the move as technically detailed and procedurally grounded.
How international sources describe it
The single international agency item in the supplied sources, an English-language line from Azerbaijan's APA, summarizes the package neutrally as the Ukrainian president sanctioning his former press secretary Mendel, without the political commentary or detail on the Carlson interview, the parallel shadow-fleet and Rostec sanctions, or Mendel's response that runs through the Ukrainian coverage. International framing in the available material is therefore limited to that brief agency summary.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the exact end-date of Mendel's tenure as Zelensky's press secretary: around April 30, 2021 in some accounts, July 9, 2021 in others. Some reports describe the Carlson interview only as occurring 'in May' without a year; others specify May 2026. On Zelensky's personal response to the interview, some accounts say he himself called Carlson and Mendel 'crazy people,' while others only quote his communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn as saying Mendel was not involved in negotiations and her statements were not serious. Mendel's framing of the sanctions as politically motivated anti-constitutional action against a Ukrainian citizen who advocates peace stands in direct tension with the Office of the President and Center for Countering Disinformation framing of her Carlson statements as Russian disinformation narratives.
Background
Yulia Mendel served as Zelensky's press secretary from June 3, 2019 to July 9, 2021; before that she worked at Ukrainian outlets ICTV, Espreso TV, 112 Ukraine and Inter and collaborated with The New York Times and Politico. The Mendel sanctions list is one of three NSDC sanctions decrees Zelensky signed the same day; the other two target Rostec-linked entities and Russian shadow-fleet tankers. Sanctions-policy adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk has described Rostec as supplying up to 80% of Russia's armaments and military equipment used against Ukraine, including Iskander and Kinzhal missiles and strike drones. The shadow-fleet vessels are reported to ship Russian oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas mainly to India, Egypt and Turkey. Mendel had previously made critical public statements about former Office of the President head Andriy Yermak, calling him the most dangerous person in power and accusing him of occult practices, and in an August 2026 Le Journal du Dimanche interview called Zelensky the main beneficiary of the war and criticized Ukraine's mobilization process.