Marcin Przydacz made the statement at a news conference in Warsaw on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Earlier, Polish authorities announced that from May 9, Kaliningrad would be referred to as Królewiec, its name when it was ruled by the Kingdom of Poland in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Reuters news agency reported.
"The current Russian name of this city is an artificial baptism unrelated to either the city or the region," Poland's committee on geographical standardisation stated.
The presidential aide said on Wednesday: “I don’t see any political context for renaming the city in official documents … Anyone with basic knowledge of history is perfectly familiar with the name Królewiec. Immanuel Kant was born in no other place than Królewiec. That is the city's name in the Polish language.”
Kremlin officials should 'read some basic history'
Speaking to reporters ahead of Polish President Andrzej Duda’s departure for a visit to Albania, Przydacz added: “And so I would advise Kremlin officials, whether the spokesman or other officials, to read some basic history.”
He was referring to a statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said that Poland’s decision to rename Kaliningrad “bordered on madness,” the Reuters news agency reported.
The Russian official told a media briefing: “We know that throughout history Poland has slipped from time to time into this madness of hatred towards Russians."
The Kremlin also said on Wednesday that Poland’s move was a “hostile act,” according to news outlets.
Königsberg, Kaliningrad, Królewiec
Established by the Teutonic Order in the 13th century, the Baltic port city in the Bay of Gdańsk was once known by its German name of Königsberg, and then as Królewiec when it was ruled by the Kingdom of Poland in the 15th and 16th centuries, according to news outlets.
It then belonged to Prussia and Germany, again as Königsberg, until after World War II, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union and renamed to honour Soviet politician Mikhail Kalinin, the Reuters news agency reported.
Poland said on Tuesday that Kalinin's connection to the 1940 Katyn Massacre, when thousands of Polish military officers were executed by Soviet forces, had negative connotations and that the city should now be referred to as Królewiec, according to Reuters.
Relations between Poland and Russia have historically been strained, including during and after World War II, news outlets noted.
Russia says it liberated Poland from Nazi German forces at the end of the war, while most Poles believe the Soviet Union replaced Nazi occupation with another form of repression, according to Reuters.
Poland has thrown its support behind Ukraine’s defence against Russia's invasion of February 24, 2022, and has stepped up the demolition of memorials to fallen Soviet soldiers across the country, news outlets reported.
Thursday is day 442 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters