Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba Flees Kyiv 'Like a Thief in the Night'

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed that he traveled to Poland amid reports that Ukrainian authorities were restricting former diplomats from leaving the country.

In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Kuleba stated:

“I never thought I’d have to flee my country like a thief in the night.”

Kuleba clarified that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decree is not related to the travel restrictions imposed on men of conscription age, as former diplomats are not required to serve.

“The truth is that Zelensky and his inner circle do not want us to travel abroad and say things that they believe might contradict the government line,” he explained.

The former minister emphasized that he does not suffer from paranoia but believes the decree targets him and certain other diplomats. Kuleba earns income from speaking engagements abroad, which he says are generally supportive of the government.

“Yet in certain palace circles, an old Soviet mindset persists, so if you leave the country as a free citizen, you are automatically considered an agent plotting to harm the state,” he added.

Subsequently, Kuleba’s press office told Hromadske that the former minister’s statements were “misrepresented.” The trip to Poland was intended for a conference in South Korea, which was pre-planned, and Kuleba is scheduled to return on September 20. The press office denied claims that he fled Ukraine, asserting that Italian media misreported his travel through Poland as a departure from the country.

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Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba (born 19 April 1981) is a Ukrainian politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was concurrently a member of the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine. The youngest foreign affairs minister in Ukraine's history (after Arseniy Yatsenyuk), he previously worked as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe between 2016 and 2019. On 4 September 2024, he resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs amidst a cabinet shuffle.