Zelenskyy has changed the airport he uses for overseas visits: he will no longer travel via Poland

This is according to data from FlightAware. According to the service, on 7 June, flight UR-ABA departed from Chisinau to London Stansted Airport.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the UK on 7 June via Chisinau Airport.

According to FlightAware, on the morning of 7 June, the UR-ABA aircraft flew from Rzeszów in Poland to Chisinau, and subsequently departed from the Moldovan capital for London. FlightAware lists the flight from Chisinau to London Stansted as lasting 3 hours and 5 minutes.

Previously, the Ukrainian president and other official delegations frequently used Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport as their main transit point for international travel. It was from there that foreign visits usually began or ended following the outbreak of full-scale war.

What is known about the route

Open data suggests that the route was changed this time: the aircraft moved from Rzeszów to Chisinau, before heading to the UK.

No public explanation has been given as to the reason for this change in logistics.

There are currently no official explanations from the Office of the President of Ukraine regarding the reasons for using Chișinău instead of Rzeszów.

Why this was noticed

During the war, Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in Poland became one of the key logistics hubs for Ukraine.

It was used for international visits by Ukrainian officials, as well as an important hub for Western aid to Ukraine.

This is precisely why the introduction of the route via Chisinau attracted media attention.

The context of relations with Poland

The change in route took place against the backdrop of a new escalation in relations between Ukraine and Poland over the awarding of an honorary name in honour of the Heroes of the UPA to one of the units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Following this, some Polish politicians sharply criticised Kyiv. Polish President Karol Nawrocki proposed stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, whilst Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak called for blocking Ukraine’s accession to the EU and halting Starlink payments for Ukraine.

On 5 June, the Head of the President’s Office, Kirill Budanov, arrived in Poland. He met with the State Secretary of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marcin Bosacki, and discussed the situation surrounding the naming of the Special Operations Forces unit.

What is important

There is as yet no official confirmation that the route via Chisinau is directly linked to the political tensions between Ukraine and Poland.

Open data from FlightAware confirms the fact of the flight via Chisinau, but does not explain the reasons for this decision.

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