He had promised to profoundly change the way of governing in Ukraine. After his election to the presidency of the republic in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky decided to fill the post of press attaché to the presidency through a competition. Iuliia Mendel is chosen from three hundred candidates. The one who was a journalist will work alongside the president for two years, going with him to the front lines in the Donbass.
Once again a journalist working for international newsrooms, Iuliia Mendel published on Wednesday The fight of our lives*, where she paints the portrait of a novice, but energetic president. Iuliia Mendel takes the reader behind the scenes of international negotiations. Target of Russian disinformation during her work at the presidency, the young woman alert, warning that it does not stop only at Ukraine. For 20 minutesIuliia Mendel discusses Volodymyr Zelensky’s communication choices and the mechanisms of Russian disinformation.
By giving numerous interviews, President Zelensky has become the face of Ukraine and embodies the struggle of an entire people against the Russian invader. What is the significance of this personification of Ukrainian resistance?
He has always believed that communication is important in politics. If another president had been elected, I don’t know if there would have been such support for Ukraine, because he knows how to speak to minds and hearts. He also speaks three languages, which is useful because he can speak Russian to Russians.
Ukraine’s international image was fragile before that [l’élection de Volodymyr Zelensky en 2019]. He is the first president whose voice carries so much on the international scene and he does not blow the wind, he broadcasts the important points. The more he speaks, the more people he will reach. He made no secret of it, he took the step of speaking not only to politicians, but also to the general public, so that people had a good understanding of the situation and so that they could influence politicians.
At the very beginning of the war, the Ukrainians were lost. And President Zelensky said, “I’m going to stay and I’m going to lead.” Every day his word is broadcast throughout Ukraine and everyone listens to him. Thus, we understand what is happening on the front, what is our strategy and where we are going. It’s a responsible thing to do.
Volodymyr Zelensky gave a speech at the Golden Globes earlier this month, last year he received the visit by actor Sean Penn. Why does the presidency attach importance to the support of personalities?
This is very important, especially for Ukraine. France is a developed country with strong institutions, you have your celebrities known all over the world. In Ukraine there are celebrities, but they are not so famous. I don’t think attracting Hollywood to matters of importance is anything new. People adore these stars and through them one can change people’s attention. For Ukraine, it is very important that celebrities watch it and come to see what is happening there, take the train to go where there are missiles and drones. This is how we can get the message across, through these celebrities. And I’m sure there’s also this link between them because President Zelensky is also an actor. These personalities see him take on a new role, and they’re curious to see how his mind works.
You write that Russia was spreading propaganda in Ukraine before the February 2022 invasion. Has Russian disinformation changed after this invasion?
Ukraine has become a testing ground for the Russians to try out their instruments of influence, particularly in the information space. Bots and trolls systems have been tested in Ukraine. If we want to win this game, we must first recognize that this system exists. Russia has tried to penetrate our information system, on the Internet with social networks, and with Russian television. In 2014 in Ukraine there was a controversial but useful law, which banned Russian television [il s’agissait en réalité d’une mesure du ministère de l’Intérieur. En 2021, Volodymyr Zelensky a interdit trois chaînes réputées prorusses]. There have been concerns about freedom of expression. But if you watch Russian television, you understand that there is nothing journalistic about it, it is propaganda.
When the war broke out, the propaganda developed even more. His goal was to demoralize us. For example, there were many messages saying that a station was mined. People were afraid to go there. Or there were some on Russian helicopters, saying paratroopers were already in western Ukraine. And people were like “really? People were really scared reading all these messages.
Elements of Russian disinformation are also relayed in France. For example, is it true that Russian speakers are repressed in Ukraine?
After the ban on Russian television, Russia realized that it had limited influence. Television can no longer reach a large number of elderly people who do not use the Internet. The Russians then launched fakes, for example that we have banned the Russian language. It was the previous Ukrainian president who really developed the controversial legislation [Les fonctionnaires, des personnalités au sommet de l’Etat et d’autres corps de métier devaient dorénavant utiliser l’ukrainien]. This made people try to promote the Ukrainian language. Many welcomed it, some were not happy about it. It is a highly politicized subject that has been used to divide our society and destroy our image on the international stage.
Language is our enormous trauma. Ukrainian has been banned throughout history many times. During the Soviet Union, if you spoke Ukrainian, you were just ignorant. And if you spoke Russian, then you were cool. The Ukrainian language tried to achieve equality.
Russia used this very painful historical experience to divide us, to influence us, to destroy our image, but then when they tried to promote Russian culture, they failed, because most Russian-speaking regions are destroyed by Russia right now. Russia first killed, occupied and destroyed the Russian-speaking regions. Whatever Russia tried to say, it helped promote Ukrainian culture.
This is the opposite of what Russia was looking for…
Yes exactly. It’s the same with NATO, they were trying to limit its expansion and now two more countries want to join. There was also this question of the ceasefire [Moscou avait décrété un cessez-le-feu les 6 et 7 janvier pour le Noël orthodoxe]. You have to watch what Putin does, not what he says. He said he wasn’t going to invade Ukraine and then he invaded us. He said he came to defend us, then he kills us. Regarding the ceasefire, you just have to look at what is happening on the ground, not what he says.
You have resumed your work as a journalist. How to exercise it while the war is raging?
It is very painful and dangerous. There were times when I got lucky because Russia was bombing the cities I was going to. It’s literally writing with the bombs and explosions near your windows. There were a lot of mermaids in Kyiv. This town was a fortress, there was no one here, no cars, no shops, no cafes. Nothing, just a lot of checkpoints, people with guns, you were checked everywhere, because there were a lot of Russians. Everyone was suspected.
One time we went to see our friends, and the Russians started bombing us at two in the morning. It was the only house that was not affected. The walls were shaking, there was no light. We didn’t know where to run, we just stood there, we couldn’t do anything else. When it stopped, we went to the bomb shelter. When I came out, the forest was on fire, the buildings were on fire, everything was on fire. They probably thought there were soldiers there and decided to bomb that place. It is only one experience among others; there are so many people who are on the front line in Donbass, in Kherson, in Zaporozhye, they feel this every day. Russia bombs eight regions every day, and every week or every ten days they bomb the whole Ukraine.