Russian drone strikes train at Ukraine-Poland border

A Russian jet-propelled drone slammed into the locomotive of a train at Yahodyn near the Ukraine-Poland border shortly after former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and senior European security officials passed through the station on Sunday.

Ukrainian authorities evacuated all passengers prior to the explosion, preventing any casualties. Boris Johnson and other European national security advisers, including UK official Jonathan Powell, traveled along the exact rail line on a separate train while returning from a conference in Kyiv.

Russia said their forces struck “railway infrastructure” in western Ukraine, but Ukraine’s state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia reported that “quite possibly, the target of this drone could have been the diplomatic train.”

Former CIA chief David Petraeus, who was waiting aboard another train at Yahodyn station during the attack, called the incident “terrifying”. In an interview with the New York Times, Petraeus declared, “This is the act of a truly barbaric leader trying to terrorize Ukrainian civilians.”

Official statements from Ukrzaliznytsia explained that the diplomatic train “had left the station earlier than expected because of the timetable change... due to constant threats of Russian strikes.”

Railway authorities issued an emergency evacuation order to passengers on the hit train “just 15 minutes” before the Russian jet-propelled drone struck. Both Ukrainian and Polish officials confirmed that the Russian drone struck 2km (1.2 miles) from the Polish border.

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who also attended the Kyiv summit, told the BBC that authorities instructed passengers on his train to prepare for evacuation before subsequently permitting them to proceed.

Bildt said, “On the train I was on we received order to prepare evacuation after it had stopped. But after a number of minutes we were informed that it was clear and we could proceed,” before his train safely arrived at Dorohusk border station in Poland.

Although media reports suggested Bildt traveled on the same train as Johnson, the former UK prime minister has not confirmed those details.

Taking to X, Johnson wrote, “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.” Johnson described the assault as “the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day - even on civilian railways” and urged Western allies to rapidly supply Kyiv “the air defences they need.”

Ukrainian officials have made repeated requests to international partners, particularly the US, to provide additional air defense interceptors to counter daily Russian strikes involving fast-moving ballistic missiles and jet-propelled drones.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha asserted that the “barbaric strikes” near the border at Yahodyn amounted to “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO” while demanding stronger sanctions against Moscow.

Sybiha added, “Putin needs to understand that his barbarism will be met with decisive action that increases the cost of war for him to an unacceptable level. This is the only way to stop him.”

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk chaired an emergency meeting to evaluate the latest situation. Tusk cautioned, “The escalation of the actions from the Russian side is becoming a reality, and they are getting closer and closer to our border.”

Johnson and other top European security advisers were returning from the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kyiv, an event that brings together prominent figures from politics, business, security, and mass media.

Russian forces appear to be escalating their war effort against Ukraine by intentionally hitting trains, railway depots, petrol stations, and border crossings. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russian drones killed two people during a strike on a border checkpoint between Ukraine and Moldova.

Moreover, a female train conductor died in a Russian drone strike on a passenger train in southern Ukraine this week, while another strike on a Kyiv depot killed six Ukrzaliznytsia employees at the beginning of the month.

In January, Zelensky denounced a Russian strike on a crowded passenger train in the northeastern Kharkiv region as “terrorism” after five people were killed.

Russian bombardment has inflicted severe destruction on Ukraine’s extensive rail network, which remains the primary transportation system for millions of citizens following the total suspension of commercial air travel since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

European governments are also holding Russia responsible for a series of suspicious incidents occurring within their borders.

Last week, Germany accused Russia of conducting an August drone strike at Leipzig’s airport, a claim that Moscow rejected as “absurd”. Several affected countries have blamed Russia for a string of suspicious fires at defense facilities ranging from Italy to Estonia.

Source: BBC (adapted)