Kremlin Reacts to Poland Renaming Kaliningrad

Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson of the Kremlin, claimed that Poland’s decision to change the name of the Russian city of Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad Oblast to that in the Polish language is "on the verge of insanity."

"This is not even Russophobia now; these are some processes on the brink of insanity happening in Poland," Peskov stated in response to a question about the change of the name for Kaliningrad, and a rally in Warsaw, during which the Russian ambassador was not allowed near a Soviet monument with flowers so that he ended up leaving the flowers at the memorial to the Ukrainians who died as a result of the Russian aggression.

Peskov added that during all its history Poland "has been resorting to this insanity of hatred towards Russians from time to time" and "this brings no good to Poland and the Polish people," Russian TASS agency  cites Peskov.

The Commission on Geographical Names Standardisation Outside of Poland, which operates under the country's main geodetic service, has decided to no longer call the Russian city of Kaliningrad by its Russian name, but instead to use the Polish name Królewiec.

The Commission also recommends using the Polish name Królewiecki obwód, instead of Kaliningradskaya Oblast, for the administrative unit where the city is located.