Journalist Yulia Mendel becomes press secretary of president Zelensky

"Yulia Mendel won the competition and became the press secretary of Zelensky," reads the publication on Facebook page of Zelensky team.

As noted, about four thousand people took part in the competition. President Zelensky and the team members from the Presidential Administration held interviews with the three finalists.

The applicants were to take part in the offhand press conference with unexpected questions in Ukrainian and English. The understanding of the political context in Ukraine and the world, stress resistance, mindset, sense of humor and response rate of the candidates were assessed.

Yulia Mendel, 32, studied journalism in Kyiv, participated in training sessions for journalists at the Yale University in the United States, worked for ICTV, Espresso TV and Inter Ukrainian TV channels. Mendel has been cooperating with The New York Times as a journalist for several years. She wrote for Ukrainian Forbes and American Politico.

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