Zelensky to brace Russia's second wave of offensive | Iuliia Mendel

Talking to Alexis Conran, journalist Iuliia Mendel, currently in Lviv, said that "Russia is going to start the second wave of offensive."

Detailing the situation in Mariupol, she said that Russian soldiers were trying to move forward.

She said: "This is very disturbing. And that's why the president is calling for more and more, for a no-fly zone above Ukraine.

"And I know that there is a big risk, we all know there is a big risk about Putin, you know, going against the whole world.

"But isn't it what he is doing now, while he is killing our people? What is guaranteeing you he will not go further after that?

"He actually is angry not at Ukraine, he's angry at NATO, at Western standards and at the world order that has been established after the Second World War."

Former spokesperson to Volodymyr Zelensky, she explained why the Ukrainian president is so popular.

She said: "He's not the kind of person who's gonna give up ever and I know this for having spent with him two years in his team. He's the person who always rises the spirits of all the teams."

She added: "I knew he would never leave the people."

Listen to Iuliia Mendel's interview in full on Times Radio Youtube channel.

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