Mykhailo Podolyak

In 2022, he became one of the representatives of Ukraine at Russian-Ukrainian peace negotiations during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 25 February, as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Podolyak and prime minister Denys Shmyhal briefed the media. In the early days, the Russian armed forces failed to significantly advance deep into the territory of Ukraine due to Ukrainian defenses. On 26 February, the Office of the President of Ukraine alleged that the advance of the Russians had stopped due to “huge losses” allegedly inflicted by the Ukrainian army.

After the discovery of Russian war crimes in Bucha in April 2022 Podolyak was worried that the occurrence would complicate ceasefire discussions with Russia.

On 22 May 2022, after Russia captured the Azovstal steelworks and took full control of Mariupol, Podolyak ruled out ceasefire talks with Russia and would not accept any deal that ceded territories to Russia. Around 20,000 people were killed in Mariupol since the Russian invasion began.

On 9 June 2022, Podolyak stated to the BBC "that between 100 and 200 Ukrainian troops are being killed on the front line every day."

On 17 June 2022, Podolyak was interviewed by France24 in the wake of the visit of a day after the visit of the Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Mario Draghi and Klaus Iohannis to Kyiv and Irpin. He stressed that Ukraine could win the war in three to six months if it were to obtain heavy weapons.

On 9 August 2022, Podolyak told the BBC: "In short, in my opinion, it’s impossible [to return to the March 2022 Istanbul communiqué]. The emotional background in Ukraine has changed very, very much. We have seen too many war crimes live. Ukrainian society will probably not agree because will understand that if Russia bears no responsibility for these crimes, they will continue in one form or another in the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, the communiqué that was proposed in Istanbul should undergo a certain upgrade." On the same day he said he had deduced the Putinite strategy of wartime negotiation.

On 10 August 2022, Spanish daily El Pais elicited a comment in interview from Podolyak that if a single point of conflict with Russia remains , it will be an unfinished war.

In an in-depth 16 August 2022 interview with The Guardian Podolyak said the current aim of the Ukrainians was "to create chaos with Russian forces", specifically targeting supply lines and Crimea. According to him, "there was no prospect of Russia negotiating seriously until it experienced a defeat on the battlefield." He added that the tactics of the opponents differed: "a Ukrainian counteroffensive looks very different. We don’t use the tactics of the 60s and 70s, of the last century." Rather, "by striking at the invaders’ supply lines deep into occupied territories.. [the] strategy is to destroy the logistics, the supply lines and the ammunition depots and other objects of military infrastructure."

In August 2022 when Hungarian-based Wizz Air announced that it would restart flights between Moscow and Abu Dhabi in the midst of the Russian invasion of its neighbour, Podolyak tweeted: "Cynics Wizz Air decided that Ukrainians’ blood does not smell, but Russian rubles from Moscow flights smell nice. Soon they realized that supporting barbarians is not about profit, but about destroyed reputation."

On 24 August 2022, Ukraine saw its thirty-first anniversary and the sixth month mark since the beginning of the invasion. Podolyak rejected a "congratulatory" message from Alexander Lukashenko, the disputed President of Belarus and an ardent supporter of Russia. Podolyak called Lukashenko's message cynical and disingenuous given Belarus' heavy involvement in the attacks of Ukraine, and asserted that "this blood-soaked clowning is recorded and will have consequences."

In April 2020, Podolyak became an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and an "anti-crisis manager" of the Office. He controls the entire information policy of the Office of the President and advises Volodymyr Zelenskyy directly. In addition, he prepares ministers of the Ukrainian government for broadcasts in the media so that their theses are coordinated with the content promoted by the president.

As of December 2020, Podolyak was listed in third place in a ranking of the 100 most influential Ukrainians according to Focus magazine.

In 2006, Podolyak began working with Ukrainian internet publication Obozrevatel as a freelancer. At the same time, he became an adviser to the owner of the publication, Chairman of the State Committee for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship, Mykhailo Brodskyy. In December 2011, Podoliak became the editor-in-chief of Obozrevatel.

In 2005, Podolyak was the editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Hazeta. In June, the publication published his article "The Last Supper": it concerned the poisoning in 2004 of the then presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. The material was a journalistic investigation presented in an artistic form.

In 2004, Podolyak was deputy editor-in-chief of the opposition Belarusian newspaper Vremya. In June 2004, officers of the KGB of Belarus came to his house and gave him half an hour to collect his things. The Belarusian authorities accused Podoliak that his activities "contradict the interests of state security", and the materials contain "slanderous fabrications about the real situation in the country, calls to destabilize the political situation in Belarus".

From 1989, he lived in Belarus, and graduated from the Minsk Medical Institute.

Mykhailo Mykhailovych Podolyak (Ukrainian: Михайло Михайлович Подоляк; born February 16, 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and negotiator, serving as the adviser to the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.