So Russians don’t kill him
With these secret measures, Selenski came to the USA
A specially commissioned US government plane, a NATO spy plane and a fighter jet as an escort. These top-secret special measures were taken to get Selenski safely to the United States.
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Volodymyr Zelensky visited US President Joe Biden in Washington on Wednesday.
Simply boarding a plane and jetting carefree across the Atlantic is currently not possible for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (44). His trip to US President Joe Biden (80) to the White House on Wednesday was therefore an extremely secret and carefully planned action.
Not without reason: Zelensky’s movements are closely monitored by Russia. Such a journey is therefore dangerous.
Appropriate measures were therefore necessary. A direct departure from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was not possible for safety reasons. So Zelensky made the first part of his secret journey overland. On Wednesday night he took the train to Poland. A video shows him with the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink (52) at the train station in the city of Przemysl, not far from the Ukrainian border.
Shortly before departure to the USA: Video shows Volodymyr Zelensky at the train station in Poland(01:02)
NATO aviators controlled the North Sea area
The Ukrainian President then climbed into a white SUV to continue in a convoy to the airfield in Rzeszów. The departure point is one of the most important military hubs. US weapons end up there, which are later transported to Ukraine. A US Air Force Boeing C-40 was waiting for Selenski in Rzeszów. This had landed in Poland a few hours earlier, after a short flight from the Ramstein military base in Germany.
At 8:15 a.m., the US military transport took off with Zelenski on board. As CNN writes, US security personnel were also present. Despite all the secrecy, aviation fans became aware of the aircraft. The aircraft with the number SAM910 was the most tracked aircraft on Flightradar 24 for a long time before it disappeared from the portal when it was already flying across the Atlantic.
But the Boeing C-40 was not the only machine in the air. About an hour before Selenski flew over the North Sea, a NATO spy plane was sent to scout the area. Because Russian submarines patrol these waters, this route seemed to be the most dangerous, writes the Telegraph.
F-15 fighter jet came to support
The spy Boeing had started in Germany and accompanied Selenski’s plane on its way. As Selenski’s plane approached the North Sea, a US Air Force F-15 fighter jet took off from an air force base in the UK as part of the escort mission. The F-15 jet returned to its base in Mildenhall, England, shortly after Selenski’s plane flew over Scotland.
After 6 p.m. Swiss time, SAM910 and the accompanying Boeing landed at Joint Base Andrews military airfield in Maryland – around 20 kilometers from Washington.
After a short rest, the Ukrainian President met Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden (71). Shortly before 11 p.m. Swiss time, the heads of state held a joint press conference. Biden praised Zelenskiy for his “unwavering commitment to Ukraine” and confirmed the delivery of the Patriot air force system. After that, the speech to the congress was on the agenda for Selenski, where he was received with thunderous applause.
Zelensky before US Congress: «Against all odds – Ukraine has not fallen!»(02:03)
Is he on his way to Ukraine again?
Selenski then shared various videos of his visit to the USA on Telegram. On Thursday morning he also posted pictures of Ukrainian energy infrastructure workers and congratulated them on Energy Engineers Day.
It is not known whether he is still in the USA or is already on his way to his war-torn homeland. This operation is also likely to be kept under wraps until the very end. (man)