Russian Drone Hits Train Near Polish Border After Boris Johnson and European Security Officials Pass Through

YAHODYN, Ukraine — A Russian drone struck a train near Ukraine’s border with Poland shortly after Boris Johnson and a group of senior European security officials had passed through the same rail corridor, Ukrainian authorities said. The drone hit the train’s engine at Yahodyn, about 2 km from the Polish border. No casualties were reported, and all passengers were evacuated, according to Ukrainian officials.

The former British prime minister and other European national security advisers, including the UK’s Jonathan Powell, had traveled along the same line on a different train as they returned from a conference in Kyiv. Russia said it had targeted “railway infrastructure” in western Ukraine. Ukraine’s state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, said it was “quite possibly” the case that the drone’s target had been the diplomatic train.

In a statement, the railway company said the train had left the station earlier than expected because of a timetable change prompted by “constant threats of Russian strikes.” Passengers on the train that was hit were ordered to evacuate “just 15 minutes” before the attack by a Russian jet-propelled drone, it added. The railway authority also said former CIA Director David Petraeus had been aboard another train at Yahodyn station at the time of the strike.

Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, who also attended the Kyiv conference, told the BBC that passengers on his train were told to prepare for evacuation after it stopped, before being allowed to continue. “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,” Bildt said. That train later arrived safely at Poland’s border station in Dorohusk. Some reports suggested Bildt had been on the same train as Johnson, but the former UK prime minister has not confirmed any details.

Johnson reacted sharply on X. “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning,” he wrote. He described the strike as “the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day — even on civilian railways,” and urged Kyiv’s allies to urgently provide Ukraine with “the air defenses they need.”

Ukraine has repeatedly asked its allies, especially the United States, to supply more interceptors to counter daily Russian attacks that increasingly rely on fast-moving ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the “barbaric strikes” at Yahodyn amounted to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s terror “knocking” directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. He renewed calls for more sanctions on Moscow. “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,” Sybiha said.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an emergency meeting to discuss the attack. “The escalation of the actions from the Russian side is becoming a reality, and they are getting closer and closer to our border,” Tusk said.

Johnson and the other senior security advisers were returning from the Yalta European Strategy, or YES, conference in Kyiv, an annual gathering of leaders and experts from politics, business, security and the media.

Boris Johnson, seen at a book fair in Lviv last week, was traveling with top European security officials. Credit: Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

The strike fits a broader pattern. Russia appears to be escalating its campaign against Ukraine by targeting trains, railway depots, fuel stations and border crossings. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said two people were killed when Russian drones hit a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova. Also this week, a female conductor died in a Russian drone attack on a passenger train in southern Ukraine. Six Ukrzaliznytsia employees were killed after a depot was struck in Kyiv at the start of the month. In January, Zelensky condemned as “terrorism” a Russian strike on a crowded passenger train in the north-eastern Kharkiv region that left five people dead.

Those attacks have significantly damaged Ukraine’s vast rail network, the main mode of transportation for millions of Ukrainians. All air travel has been suspended since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, making the railways both a lifeline and a vulnerable target.

The proximity of the Yahodyn strike to Poland — a NATO and EU member — is likely to add to concerns in Europe about the war’s spillover risks. European countries have also blamed Russia for suspicious incidents on their territory. Last week, Germany said Russia was responsible for an August drone attack at Leipzig’s airport, a claim Moscow dismissed as “absurd.” There have also been a series of suspicious fires at defense facilities from Italy to Estonia, with some affected countries pointing to Russia.

For Kyiv, the attack reinforced a familiar appeal: more air defenses, faster, as Russia’s new jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles test Ukraine’s ability to protect civilians far from the front line.