Zelenskyj's first trip since the beginning of the invasion: how did he get out of the war zone?

Created: 12/21/2022, 5:09 p.m

By: Nadja Zinsmeister

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on December 20 in Bakhmut.

© IMAGO/Ukraine Presidency

Zelenskyy is on his way to the USA to speak with US President Joe Biden.

But how did he manage the dangerous emigration?

Kyiv/Washington - For the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has left the country.

He is on his way to Washington, where he is to be received by US President Biden in the White House and to give a speech before the US Congress.

But how did Zelenskyy manage to leave Ukraine in the middle of the war when there are currently no more civilian planes taking off from Kyiv and he is probably number one on the Russian hit list?

How did Ukrainian President Zelenskyy get out of the war zone?

Various theories are circulating as to how the Ukrainian President was able to leave the country on Wednesday morning (German time) despite the great danger.

As the American broadcaster CNN claims to have learned from high-ranking administrative officials, the USA was significantly involved in the security measures.

“Zelenskyj concluded that these security parameters met his needs.

We have agreed to this and are implementing the measures accordingly," the official, who remained anonymous, is quoted as saying.

Zelenskyy himself said on Twitter that he was traveling to the United States to strengthen Ukraine's "resilience and defense capabilities".

According to

information, Zelenskyj took the train to Przemysl, a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

His arrival can be seen on a video of the Polish TV channel

recorded on December 21.

However, there is no exact time.

He then drove in a white SUV to the south-eastern city of Rzeszow in Poland and from there flew to Washington in a VIP Boeing of the US Air Force.

As the

reports, the plane was one of the most followed planes on

, until it suddenly disappeared on the tracking website and could no longer be tracked.

That would support the theory that Zelenskyy is inside.

Another theory for leaving Ukraine: Is Zelenskyj already in the USA?

However, it is also possible that Zelenskyj's trip to the USA on Wednesday morning was only faked for security reasons and that he is already in Washington.

A number of flights found on the Flight Aware tracking page and published on Twitter would support this.

According to this, the Ukrainian President could have secretly reached the Polish military airfield Lask on Monday and from there first taken to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force military base.

From there we went to Washington's government airport, which is located around 15 km south-east of the US capital.

Ultimately, both theories cannot be proven.

Selenskyj is officially received in the USA at around 8 p.m. (German time).

Maybe he's still on a plane right now, maybe he's already arrived in Washington.

Of course, it is also possible that both options are deliberate deceptive maneuvers and that the Ukrainian President traveled to the USA by a completely different route.