{"id":554303,"date":"2023-02-20T21:22:02","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T18:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/sneaking-a-president-from-dc-to-kyiv-without-anyone-noticing\/"},"modified":"2023-02-20T21:22:02","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T18:22:02","slug":"sneaking-a-president-from-dc-to-kyiv-without-anyone-noticing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sneaking-a-president-from-dc-to-kyiv-without-anyone-noticing\/","title":{"rendered":"#Sneaking a president from DC to Kyiv without anyone noticing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a374c57de324\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a374c57de324\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sneaking-a-president-from-dc-to-kyiv-without-anyone-noticing\/#Sneaking_a_president_from_DC_to_Kyiv_without_anyone_noticing\" >Sneaking a president from DC to Kyiv without anyone noticing<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sneaking_a_president_from_DC_to_Kyiv_without_anyone_noticing\"><\/span>Sneaking a president from DC to Kyiv without anyone noticing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden\u2019s motorcade slipped out of the White House around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. No big, flashy Air Force One for this <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> -\u2013 the president vanished into the darkness on an Air Force C-32, a modified Boeing 757 normally used for domestic trips to smaller airports.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-biden-f00af220669457d5ba07127c7e57a27b?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_01\" data-ylk=\"slk:next time he turned up;cpos:1;pos:1\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">next time he turned up<\/a> \u2014 20 hours later \u2014 it was in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s surprise visit to Ukraine on Monday was the first time in modern history that a U.S. leader visited a warzone outside the aegis of the U.S. military \u2014 a feat the White House said carried some risk even though Moscow was given a heads-up.<\/p>\n<p>Over the next five hours, the president made multiple stops around town \u2014 ferried about in a black SUV rather than the presidential limousine \u2014 without any announcement to the Ukrainian public that he was there. But all that activity attracted enough attention that word of his presence leaked out well before he could get back to Poland, which was the original plan. Aides at the White House were surprised the secret held as long as it did.<\/p>\n<p>But Russia knew what the Ukrainian public did not. U.S. officials had given Moscow notice of Biden&#8217;s trip.<\/p>\n<p>The president had been itching since last year to join the parade of other Western officials who have visited Kyiv to pledge support standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital.<\/p>\n<p>Biden&#8217;s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/biden-kyiv-russia-government-andrzej-duda-poland-1a3fae5e20c14d2e6b4f7628f1ae4262\" data-ylk=\"slk:planned trip to Warsaw, Poland;cpos:2;pos:1\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">planned trip to Warsaw, Poland<\/a>, and the Presidents&#8217; Day holiday provided an obvious opening to tack on a stop in Kyiv. A small group of senior officials at the White House and across U.S. national security agencies set about working in secret for months to make it h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday. Biden only gave the final sign-off on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan said the trip \u201crequired a security, operational, and logistical effort from professionals across the U.S. government to take what was an inherently risky undertaking and make it a manageable risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once Biden was secreted aboard the Air Force jet, the call sign \u201cSAM060,\u201d for Special Air Mission, was used for the plane instead of the usual \u201cAir Force One.\u201d It took off from Joint Base Andrews at 4:15 a.m. Eastern time.<\/p>\n<p>After a refueling stop in Germany, Biden\u2019s aircraft switched off its transponder for the roughly hour-long flight to Rzeszow, Poland, the airport that has served as the gateway for billions of dollars in Western arms and VIP visitors into Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>He arrived in Kyiv at 8 a.m. Monday and was greeted by Ambassador Bridget Brink and entered his motorcade for the drive to Mariinsky Palace. Even while he was on the ground in Ukraine, flights transporting military equipment and other goods were continuing unabated to Rzeszow from Western cities.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in Kyiv, many main streets and central blocks were cordoned off without explanation. People started sharing videos of long motorcades of cars speeding along streets where access was restricted \u2014 the first clues that Biden had arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Biden traveled with a far smaller than usual retinue: Sullivan, deputy chief of staff Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon and the director of Oval Office operations, Annie Tomasini. They were joined by his Secret Service detail, the military aide carrying the so-called \u201cnuclear football,\u201d a small medical team and the official White House photographer.<\/p>\n<p>Only two journalists were on board instead of the usual complement of 13. Their electronic devices were powered off and turned over to the White House for the duration of the trip into Ukraine. A small number of journalists based in Ukraine were summoned to a downtown hotel on Monday morning to join them, not informed that Biden was visiting until shortly before his arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Even with Western surface-to-air missile systems bolstering Ukraine\u2019s defenses, it was rare for a U.S. leader to travel to a conflict zone where the U.S. or its allies did not have control over the airspace.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. military does not have a presence in Ukraine other than a small detachment of Marines guarding the embassy in Kyiv, making Biden\u2019s visit more complicated than visits by prior U.S. leaders to war zones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did notify the Russians that President Biden will be traveling to Kyiv,\u201d Sullivan told reporters. \u201cWe did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes.\u201d He declined to specify the exact message or to whom it was delivered but said the heads-up was to avoid any miscalculation that could bring the two nuclear-armed nations into direct conflict.<\/p>\n<p>While Biden was in Kyiv, U.S. surveillance planes, including E-3 Sentry airborne radar and an electronic RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft, were keeping watch over Kyiv from Polish airspace.<\/p>\n<p>The sealing off of Kyiv roads that are usually humming with traffic brought an eerie calm to the center of the capital. It was so quiet that crows could be heard cawing as Biden and Zelenskyy walked from their motorcade to the gold-domed St. Michael\u2019s Cathedral under skies as blue as the outer walls of the cathedral itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s walk in and take a look,\u201d Biden said, wearing his trademark aviator sunglasses against the glare. The presidents disappeared inside as heavily armed soldiers stood guard outside.<\/p>\n<p>Cathedral bells chirped at the stroke of 11:30 a.m. followed shortly by air raid alarms, at 11:34 a.m., just before the men reemerged. The sirens were first a distant howl rising over the city, followed seconds later by alarms from mobile phone apps wailing from people\u2019s pockets.<\/p>\n<p>Those alarms are voiced by \u201cStar Wars\u201d actor Mark Hamill, and his Luke Skywalker voice urged people to take cover, warning: \u201cDon\u2019t be careless. Your overconfidence is your weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two leaders walked at a measured pace with no outward signs of concern through the cathedral&#8217;s arched front gate onto the square in front, where the rusting hulks of destroyed Russian tanks and other armored vehicles have been stationed as grim reminders of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-i13n=\"cpos:3;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine\" data-ylk=\"slk:the war;cpos:3;pos:1\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">the war<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When the square isn\u2019t blocked off, as it was during the leaders\u2019 visit, people come to look at the vehicles, many taking selfies.<\/p>\n<p>Biden appeared to pay the hulks no mind as he and Zelenskyy followed behind honor guards carrying two wreaths to the wall of remembrance honoring Ukrainian soldiers killed since 2014, the year Russia annexed Ukraine\u2019s Crimean peninsula and Russian-backed fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>It was only then that the first images of Biden in the capital popped up on Ukrainian <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> and the secret visit became global <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is like an example of a president who is not afraid to show up in Ukraine and to support us,\u201d said Kyiv resident Myroslava Renova, 23, after Biden\u2019s visit became known.<\/p>\n<p>The all-clear notice, also voiced by Hamill, sounded at 1:07 p.m., long after Biden had headed to the U.S. Embassy for a brief stop before departing the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe air alert is over,&#8221; Hamill said. \u201cMay the force be with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci reported from aboard Biden&#8217;s aircraft and in Kyiv. Miller reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington and Nicolae Dumitrache in Kyiv contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/news\/sneaking-president-dc-kyiv-without-182202099.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sneaking a president from DC to Kyiv without anyone noticing KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden\u2019s motorcade slipped out of the White House around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. No big, flashy Air Force One for this trip -\u2013 the president vanished into the darkness on an Air Force C-32, a modified Boeing 757 normally used&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":554304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/HiWnKehmsJlw2PXGmkaGew--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ap.org\/078bf4697752c3a387577935f53f9500","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}