The scandal that erupted around Ukrainian Kristina Voronovska and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk attracted a lot of attention in the Polish press and social networks. Voronovska, who is Tusk's assistant, became the object of criticism and discussion due to the prime minister's recent public statement, which led to a wide response.
Opponents of the Polish prime minister, in particular representatives of the "Law and Justice" party, as well as their supporters, drew attention to Voronovska.
Posts questioning Kristina Voronovska's qualifications began to appear on social networks, as she worked in a beauty salon before the Diet.
She is also accused of having ties to Russia through her father, who served in the Soviet army, and her distant family in the Russian Federation.
Donald Tusk's office rejects all accusations. Kristina Voronovska herself did not comment on the scandal surrounding her name.
Photo by fakt.pl
The story about Tusk's mysterious assistant, as well as her photo, made the front pages of several Polish tabloids. The publication Fakt asks who the "little angel Tuska" is, and Gazeta Polska writes about a "cosmetologist with Russian connections."
We tell you what is known about Kristina Voronovska.
Who is Kristina Voronovska?
Is a person who specializes in eyebrows sufficiently qualified to serve in Parliament? Users of X (former Twitter) ask such questions to the Polish Prime Minister.
Information about assistant Kristina Voronovska is available on the website of the Seimas in the section about Tusk.
It also states that before working in the Polish parliament, she worked in the "Dream of beauty" beauty salon in Warsaw.
Photo by dreamofbeauty.pl
On the screens from the salon's website, you can read that Voronovska was engaged in cosmetology and "was in love with the anatomy of the skin." Voronovska's specialty is cosmetology procedures in the area of eyes and eyebrows.
Information about Voronovsk has already been removed from the site. But she is still there in joint photos.
Journalists found this salon in Warsaw, but they refused to comment there.
Since May 2024, Voronovska has been an assistant to MP Donald Tusk. It is the deputy, not the prime minister. After all, before he became prime minister, Tusk was elected to the Diet.
Kristina Voronovska is 34 years old. She was born in Poland in 1989. Her father served in the Soviet army.
Later, her family moved to Ukraine. Here she graduated from a university, but it is not known which one. For some time she lived in Ukraine, worked in the banking sector. She moved to Poland in 2018.
Judging by the quotes from her Instagram, Voronovska wrote that she is Ukrainian - #ukrainiangirl, and also called herself Polish. Now Voronovskaya's account, which had 70,000 subscribers, is blocked.
In addition to working in a beauty salon, the website of the parliament also states that she worked in the office of the Civic Platform party.
But it seems that it is the work in the field of beauty that has stirred up social media users the most.
"One of the two assistants of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is the Ukrainian Kristina Voronovska... And there would be nothing surprising about this, if it were not for the fact that this assistant worked for years... in the "Dream of beauty" beauty salon in Warsaw's Mokotów district" , - write in Kh.
In addition, Tusk's opponents emphasize the fact that the ex-cosmetologist's work coincided with the reduction of taxes on cosmetology services in Poland.
Several commentators in X with right-wing views drew attention to the fact that Christina Woronowska was born in 1989 in the Polish village of Mendzirzeche, near which there was a Soviet military base. Her father was a soldier.
"What were her parents doing there (at the military base - Ed.)?" investigative journalist Marcin Dobski asks X.
"Soviet signal troops were stationed there (near Mendzizheche - Ed.). It is quite likely that your assistant is the daughter of an officer. An officer of the GRU – that is, Russian intelligence,” journalist Marcin Torts virtually asked Tusk from X.
Social networks also wrote about her alleged relatives in Russia. These reports were not confirmed and amounted to a common message - Tusk has an assistant who is connected to Russia.
The scandal surrounding Voronovska is being actively used by opposition politicians, Tusk's opponents, Wiadomosci writes. News about Woronowska was published by the national Polish daily Rzeczpospolita and the popular weekly Wprost.
Photo by dreamofbeauty.pl
"Cosmetologist with Russian contacts" was the headline published by Gazeta Polska on the front page.
And X jokingly writes that Voronovska is actually an SBU agent in Tusk's office.
Many messages from Polish commentators dedicated to Voronovska were accompanied by her candid photos from Instagram.
A photo from her Instagram is also being shared on social networks with the question of where the beautician got the Louis Vuitton bag for 10,000 zlotys (100,000 UAH).
"Who told you that the bag is real and not a fake?" other users wrote back.
What they say in Tusk
Law enforcement officers assure that after Donald Tusk became prime minister last December, people from his entourage were checked. In particular, Kristina Voronovska.
This check is very thorough, said Jacek Dobzynski, spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The head of the office of the Prime Minister of Poland, Jan Grabec, was also forced to speak with a refutation of the information about Voronovska.
He also assured that the woman was checked by the special services before being hired by the Seimas. The politician says that Voronovska does not have access to any confidential data. Now in the Seimas, she organizes the work of parliamentarians.
Photo credit: PA
"Kristina has been working with us at the Civic Platform since 2022. She was hired as a secretary when we were looking for new people to expand the office before the election campaigns," Hrabets told Wirtualna Polska in a comment.
According to him, she graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Ukraine and worked there in the banking sector. She could not find a job in Poland, so she got a job in a beauty salon.
In 2022, responding to the announcement, she came to work at the "Civic Platform".
"The head of our office, Monika Kshepkowska, decided that Krystyna has potential, that she speaks Polish well because she is of Polish origin, and that it is worth giving her a chance," Hrabets recalls.
He adds that Voronovska quickly got used to party work. Subsequently, she began to manage one of the secretariats and successfully organized meetings for deputies.
According to the head of the prime minister's office, Voronovska worked very well and at the beginning of this year, when Tusk's parliamentary office was being created, she was recommended for work in the Diet.
Yan Grabets says that he personally recommended Voronovska. She works as a deputy's assistant under contract.
The head of the prime minister's office confirmed that Kristina Voronovska was born in Poland, as her father served there as a soldier in the Soviet army. After the declaration of Ukraine's independence, Voronovskaya's father joined the Ukrainian army. Now he is a military pensioner. Works in security.
According to Hrabets, Voronovska grew up in Ukraine, but her grandparents have Polish roots. The woman has distant family in Russia, but contrary to the claims of Internet users, this is not her sister.
Another accusation against Tusk's assistant related to her work in the beauty industry. The woman was a member of the "Beauty Razem" foundation, which fought for the reduction of VAT on cosmetology services.
Right-wing observers claimed that it was Voronovska who lobbied in the prime minister's office for the government's decision to lower taxes.
However, the promise to reduce taxes was announced even earlier - in Tusk's campaign program in the fall of 2023.
In addition, representatives of the industry claim that Kristina Voronovska had nothing to do with the negotiations with the government regarding the reduction of VAT.
"Donald Tusk's assistant did not participate in the negotiations regarding the 8% VAT on behalf of Beauty Razem," the foundation's statement, cited by the Wprost publication, emphasizes.
The Government Information Center also denied the participation of assistant Voronovska in industry consultations.
During the week, the scandal surrounding Tusk's assistant did not subside. The details of her life continue to savor the tabloids. According to observers, this causes significant damage to the image of the Polish prime minister.
Ukrainian Kristina Voronovska should be removed from the prime minister's entourage, say secret service officers interviewed by Rzeczpospolita.
"Poland has enough people with the same competences, whose employment does not lead to such serious image consequences", - believes Grzegorz Malecki, former head of the Office of Foreign Intelligence.
