Cichocki confirmed his departure in an interview on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He leaves the role after the usual tenure of four years, with the official farewell ceremony set to take place in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday.
Cichocki was the only EU ambassador, and one of only two foreign diplomats alongside the papal nuncio, to remain in Kyiv despite Russian bombardment after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February last year, the PAP news agency reported.
During the last 20 months, Cichocki has coordinated military and humanitarian aid arriving from Poland, according to officials.
Olena Kondratiuk, deputy Speaker of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada parliament, has thanked the Polish envoy for his work.
She wrote on the X social media platform: “Ambassador of Poland Bartosz Cichocki completes his 4-year diplomatic mission in Ukraine. I thanked him for his constant large-scale work, solidarity, understanding and support of Ukraine.”
Kondratiuk added: “Ukraine will never stop thanking Poland, which hospitably accepted more than a million displaced persons.”
Cichocki, who speaks Polish, Ukrainian, English and Russian, has previously worked for Poland’s National Security Bureau (BBN), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), the PAP news agency reported.
He is set to be replaced as Poland’s ambassador to Kyiv by Jarosław Guzy.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 609 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP/PAP, rmf24.pl