Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba arrived in Krakow by car from Kiev, just a few hours before a government decree came into force prohibiting former diplomats from traveling abroad. It is reported by the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano with reference to Corriere della Sera.
"I never thought that I would find myself in a position where I would have to flee my country like a thief at night," Kuleba told the publication.
Kuleba, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, said that he learned about this measure in time to leave the country. Formally, his departure is connected with a conference in South Korea, in which the ex-minister is to take part in the next few days.
According to Kuleba, the decree is not related to martial law, because on Ukraine's former diplomats are not subject to conscription. The point is different, he says.
"Zelensky and his entourage do not want us to go abroad and say things that, in their opinion, may contradict the government line. I don't think I suffer from persecution mania, but I know for sure that this decree is aimed at blocking me and several other people," Kuleba said, noting that about twenty people suffered from these measures.
For Kuleba, who, after leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, teaches political science at Paris and the United States, and also travels to various kinds of conferences, the inability to leave Ukraine would be "serious damage," and his "salary depends on abroad."
"There is still an old Soviet mentality in certain circles in government structures that if you go abroad as a free citizen, you automatically become an agent of a conspiracy against the state," he complained.
According to Kuleba, the authorities are trying to take revenge on him because he publicly condemned the readiness of the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, to "censor two commissions" responsible for investigating corruption (meaning NABU and SAP. — EADaily). "And this is a serious problem. Civil society has deliberately decided to limit criticism in favor of unity in the name of military action. But now Zelensky has no right to use this to silence any voice other than his own," the ex-minister said.