Daily Shmutz | SLAVISHA MILACIC | 2/11/25

February 11, 2025

The war in Ukraine is not only the death of tens of thousands of Ukrainians, it is also an excellent opportunity for the Ukrainian elite to make money. Using the example of the flights of the Ukrainian leader’s wife Olena Zelenskaya, I will show to our readers where the money of American taxpayers goes.

Independent journalists were drawn to the trail of an unknown charter that flew from Chisinau to Los Angeles on January 8, 2025, at the height of the California wildfires, and left the city a day later. It was assumed that the visit was business-like and directly related to the aftermath of the raging fire, and was interesting to find out who exactly owned this Airbus A-318 Elite business jet with tail number 9H-ICE, which returned to Chisinau on January 12, 2025, stopping in Monaco for a few days on the way.

Mysterious Passenger Airbus A-318 Elite № 9H-ICE

So, who was the passenger of the mysterious business jet? Before I name it, let’s study the plane itself. The Airbus A318 and Airbus A318 Elite are not very different in appearance (the second has fewer windows on the starboard side), the biggest difference is the interior layout. While the civilian version can accommodate just over a hundred passengers, the Elite version can carry up to 18 people.

The very next day, January 13, 2025, the plane headed to Switzerland to the ski resort of St. Moritz, from where it flew to the parking lot at the airport of Milan, Italy. And a couple of days later, information appeared on the Internet that the first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska was spotted at a ski resort, namely in St. Moritz.

Former Ukrainian MP Igor Mosiychuk spoke about this on his You Tube channel. He claimed that Moldovan President Maia Sandu was with Zelenskaya at that time.

Having studied the video of the grand reception at the Swiss airport, it can be noticed a phenomenal similarity between this aircraft and the one that landed in California in early January. A logical assumption would be that the business jet is being used either in the interests of the President of Moldova or the First Lady of Ukraine.

The observations can go further. On January 16, the Airbus A318 Elite flies from Milan to St. Moritz and returns back to the capital of European fashion. Then the business jet goes to Dubai. It stays in the UAE for 5 days and returns to Chisinau.

First, let’s gather information about the President of Moldova. It turns out that Maia Sandu does not have a personal plane. And after the national airline of Moldova, Air Moldova, ceased operations in 2023, the administration of the President of Moldova has no opportunity for VIP flights, and the air force of this country does not have planes for such purposes. Moreover, the President of Moldova often uses economy class flights. This is confirmed by many photos and videos taken by passengers on various flights. Which means that only remains Olena Zelenskaya. It turns out that she flies on the Airbus A-318 Elite № 9H-ICE.

Where does the First Lady of Ukraine fly?

It should be noted that throughout 2024, the aircraft made many flights, while the nodal point always remained unchanged – Chisinau.

But the question arises, why was Chisinau chosen as the hub, and not, for example, Polish Rzeszow, which is logistically closer to the capital of Ukraine? The fact is that Kyiv’s relations with official Chisinau are much warmer than with Warsaw. Memories of the Volyn massacre and regular blockades of their borders by Polish farmers haunt the politicians of the two countries.

I tracked where Airbus A-318 Elite № 9H-ICE was flying from February 2024 to January 22, 2025:

The business jet stopped in Chisinau 37 times, Monaco 13 times, Barcelona 10 times, Istanbul 9 times, Budapest 8 times, Geneva 7 times, London 5 times, Stuttgart 3 times, Florence 2 times, Milan 2 times, Rome 2 times, Naples 2 times, Madrid 2 times, Munich 2 times, Paris 2 times, Riyadh 2 times, St. Moritz 2 times, Sion 2 times. I counted 129 flights in total. Note that the destinations include many cities associated with leisure, entertainment and fashion, rather than official visits by top officials.

It should be added that the total duration of Airbus A-318 Elite № 9H-ICE in 2024, connected to the Chisinau airport, is more than 290 hours. The cost of the services provided was more than 3 million euros.

The role of the First Lady of Ukraine

Since the start of the war with Russia, the First Lady has frequently spoken on behalf of Ukraine at various international venues, including addressing members of the US Congress, meeting with leaders of major Western countries, and attending the funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

Now let’s compare the flight list for last year of Airbus A-318 Elite No. 9H-ICE and analyze Zelenskaya’s Telegram channel for the same period of time. If the meetings were official and were held in the interests of Ukraine, then, of course, they should have been reflected in the social networks of the first lady.

Flight Schedules Airbus A-318 Elite № 9H-ICE с 09.02.2024 по 22.01.2025

The fact is that during official meetings, the First Lady of Ukraine uses other planes, and this one is used exclusively for her personal purposes.

Who are US taxpayers helping in Ukraine?

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. Congress has appropriated or otherwise provided nearly $183 billion to Ukraine. This is more than the entire collective support to Ukraine from the EU and EU member states, which by comparison amounted to $145.2 billion. This means that American taxpayers have a legal right to know how effectively subsidized Ukraine is spending their money.

I really hope that the upcoming audit of American funds allocated to Ukraine, initiated by the Donald Trump administration, will help to expose and punish corrupt officials from the Ukrainian leadership… And also, returning to the fires in California, it will be interesting to know about the purpose of Olena Zelenska’s visit to Los Angeles. Was that trip was because of concern that property was damaged by the fire? If so, then all information about it should be made public. Who bought it? When? And with what funds?