So when Ukrainian journalist Yulia Mendel got the calls that she had been hired to work for President Volodomir Zelensky,

she had no idea what was about to come her way.

Yulia Mendel has served as the press secretary and spokesperson for President Zelensky, president of Ukraine from 2019 to 2021.

She has a new memoir out, The Fight of Our Lives, My Time with Zelensky, Ukraine's Battle for Democracy and what it means for the world.

It's out now. We get into a very interesting conversation around the style and leadership of President Zelensky and why it is so important to see and to witness globally in the face of the world.

And how the two principles evolve, Zelensky and Putin have played this chess match that represents 400 years of Ukrainian Russian history.

It is fascinating and you don't want to miss it coming up next right here on the Michael Still podcast.

Hey everybody, welcome again to the Michael Still podcast. I am really, really excited about our conversation today because a lot of times Americans don't get an up close understanding and appreciation for global events that impact us as much as they do.

And we don't have anyone else in the world. We sometimes isolate ourselves from the conversation.

So it was important, I think, particularly given not just the bravery, the tenacity and the just incredible courage of the people of Ukraine under the leadership of of all the beer Zelensky.

And we have a feel for what that's about. But to have someone who has as we like to say, been in the room, who can tell us firsthand. So it's with a great deal of pleasure.

We get to welcome Yulia Mandel to the podcast. So welcome, Yulia, such a pleasure to have you.

Michael, thank you for having me and for actually rising the topic of your crane, which is very important these days.

Absolutely. And so let's just get right into the conversation.

I love the way you set the tone for your memoir because a lot of times people approach these things from a sense of the difficulty of it, sort of a victimhood. You write out out of the gate, say, look, we are not victims when speaking of the Ukrainian people.

Why was that important for you to note that from the start and sort of set the tone for what it was you wanted to say?

Well, you start from so deep questions. So right, this is the book The Fight of Our Lives. And in fact, what I consider, what my people consider in many ways that as soon as you recognize that you're a victim, you lose immediately. You already lose.

In this way, we are targets for Russians. That's definitely. And by the way, Ukrainians consider that we have been fighting Russian imperialism for 400 years.

And just right now, it's a huge culmination. And you know, it's the fight for more than values, democratic values, when the world already knows what is and how it is to be a free world. Right. But in fact, even being targets to Russians, we are fighters, we're not victims.

We're not bold to put in. We did not accept any conditions to limit our freedoms. Actually, we didn't accept the conditions to accept any kind of modern slavery that Russia wants to suggest to Ukraine.

And we are looking for freedom. And we are proud to be the fighters.

And a lot of Americans don't appreciate you make the note that this is a new fight for the Ukrainians. It's been going on for quite some time with Russia. And it's a long, long term battle, if you will.

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