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Ukrainian Railways reported that a Russian drone struck the locomotive of a passenger train travelling from Kyiv to Warsaw on September 13 just two kilometres from the Polish border near Yahodyn. The operator said monitoring teams had detected the threat in advance and warned the crew allowing for a full evacuation that left no one injured. According to Ukrzaliznytsia the timing suggested the diplomatic train that had used the line minutes earlier may have been the intended target.
The diplomatic train had carried former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and former CIA Director David Petraeus along with EU security advisers returning from a conference in Kyiv Ukrzaliznytsia stated. Bildt wrote on X that the struck train followed theirs and had been evacuated as the drone approached with no one hurt. Johnson described the strike as senseless adding that Putin was targeting civilians in the same manner they face every day across the country.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the strike Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and NATO in a statement on X. Sybiha urged partners to impose the full weight of sanctions on Russia while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow had deliberately targeted the locomotive. The foreign minister’s remarks came as the attack highlighted risks to a border corridor that carries much of the military and humanitarian aid sent to Ukraine according to Al Jazeera.
Polish President Donald Tusk chaired an emergency security meeting after the strikes and warned that Russia could escalate the war in coming weeks with possible effects on Polish territory. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski described Russia’s growing attacks on NATO’s doorstep as an escalation Reuters reported. A separate Russian drone also hit a truck less than one kilometre from the border prompting a temporary closure of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing Polish border guards told Reuters.
The border incident formed part of a broader overnight Russian assault involving more than 450 drones and missiles across Ukraine the Guardian reported. Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 405 drones and four missiles yet at least six people were killed and more than 40 injured in the wider campaign. Western regions that are normally quieter than frontline areas bore a heavy share of the strikes which also set off air-raid warnings in Poland.
Ukrzaliznytsia noted that the strike marked the second straight day of Russian attacks on railway infrastructure after a similar assault on facilities in Lutsk the previous day. The operator added that services on the Warsaw route resumed despite significant delays caused by the incident. Polish and Ukrainian officials have pointed to Moscow’s increasing use of faster jet-powered long-range drones which are harder to intercept than earlier models according to statements from both governments.
