Did the Ukrainian border police bar former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko from entering Poland because he is under sanctions? No, that's not true: Ukrainian intelligence services withdrew his permission to leave the country as they suspected that his trip will be used by Russia's propaganda machine.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) on December 2, 2023, under the title (translated from Hungarian to English by Lead Stories staff):
Poroshenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and businessman was blocked by Ukrainian border police from entering Poland because he was sanctioned. He can't go there and to the USA either. It's developing...
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Dec 5 18:21:08 2023 UTC)
Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 need special permission to leave the country under martial law. Poroshenko planned to visit Poland and the U.S. at the beginning of December 2023.
He is not under sanctions by European countries, the U.S. or his own country, but SBU, Ukraine's intelligence service, decided to cancel his approval to leave the country. According to their statement they were afraid that Poroshenko's meeting with foreign politicians, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who often criticizes Ukraine, would be used by Russian services to reduce the support of foreign partners and try to split Ukrainian society from within. They added that Russian special forces are trying to change the mood of countries supporting Ukraine and push the Ukrainian political community toward the narratives on the need for a negotiation process with the Russian Federation under the conditions of a war freeze.
Poroshenko's party, European Solidarity, confirmed the action in a statement published on December 2, 2023. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told 444.hu that Poroshenko was indeed planning to meet Orban.
