Zelenskyy’s plane returned from Chisinau to Krakow after Tallinn summit
The aircraft used by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials for foreign trips has returned to Poland again after a flight from Moldova.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in data from the aviation resources AirNavradar and FlightAware, which Ukrainian media drew attention to.
Flight after summit and return to usual base
According to the services, at the start of June 10, the aircraft flew from Chisinau to Poland’s Krakow. It had brought the Ukrainian delegation to Moldova after the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit in Tallinn.
After that, assumptions emerged that the aircraft’s base location may have changed. This was linked to the fact that earlier the President had flown to Britain from Chisinau rather than from Poland’s Rzeszow, which had been used regularly.
Foreign Ministry denies political background to routes
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied reports of a possible political conflict with Poland over the change in routes. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi stressed that all decisions regarding flights are technical in nature.
"The President’s logistics are determined separately by his protocol service. Let us not politicize logistics issues or draw special attention to them for security reasons," he said.
At the same time, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk denied such versions and said that the airport in Rzeszów had not been closed and was operating as usual.
Background
- The escalation in Ukrainian-Polish relations broke out after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on May 26 granting the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine's Armed Forces the honorary title "named after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA)." The text of the document stated that the decision was made to "restore the historical traditions of the national army."
- On May 29, President of Poland Karol Nawrocki announced his intention to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — Poland's highest award, which was presented to him in 2023 by then-Polish President Andrzej Duda.
- Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa demonstratively removed a badge with the Ukrainian flag, which he had constantly worn, in protest and accused Zelenskyy of "honoring UIA bandits," which, he said, "insulted him personally and all murdered Poles."
- Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Ukraine Bartosz Cichocki officially returned the Order of Merit awarded to him by Zelenskyy in 2022 over the same decision.
- Head of the International Policy Bureau at the Polish president's office, Marcin Przydacz, said Volodymyr Zelenskyy should personally call his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki and formally apologize for giving the SOF unit the name "Heroes of the UIA."
