A Russian drone struck a Ukrainian train near the Polish border shortly after former British prime minister Boris Johnson and senior European security officials travelled through the area, raising fresh concerns about attacks on Ukraine’s railway network close to NATO territory.
The strike occurred at Yahodyn in western Ukraine, about two kilometres from the Polish border, hitting the engine of a stationary train. Ukrainian authorities reported no casualties, saying passengers had been evacuated before the attack. Johnson, UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell and other European officials had travelled along the same railway line on a separate train after attending the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv.
Professor Katarzyna Pisarska, chair of the Warsaw Security Forum, said she had been travelling in the same carriage as Johnson and Powell and that the attack occurred roughly 30 minutes after their train crossed into Poland. Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said the diplomatic train had departed earlier than originally scheduled because of timetable changes prompted by the continuing threat of Russian strikes.
Ukrzaliznytsia said passengers aboard the train that was ultimately struck received an evacuation order about 15 minutes before a Russian jet-propelled drone hit it. The railway operator suggested the diplomatic train could have been the intended target. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had targeted railway infrastructure in western Ukraine but did not say the diplomatic delegation was targeted.
Former CIA director David Petraeus was aboard another train at Yahodyn station at the time of the attack and described the incident as terrifying. Johnson later condemned the strike and called on Ukraine’s allies to urgently provide additional air-defence systems as Kyiv continues to face Russian missile and drone attacks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strike demonstrated that the consequences of Russia’s war were moving increasingly close to the borders of the European Union and NATO. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an emergency meeting following the incident, warning that Russian military activity was moving closer to Poland. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Moscow of attempting to intimidate Western countries.
Asked about the attack, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian military operations were being conducted throughout Ukraine and would continue. The incident comes amid an intensification of attacks on Ukrainian transportation and infrastructure, including railway facilities, passenger trains, fuel stations and border crossings.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 108 drones overnight, with Ukrainian forces reporting that 85 were intercepted. Authorities in the northern Chernihiv region also said three people were killed when a warehouse belonging to an agricultural business was struck in Pryluky. Russia, meanwhile, said its forces destroyed nearly 400 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.
Ukraine’s railway system has suffered extensive damage throughout the war and remains a critical transportation network for civilians, government officials and visiting foreign delegations. With civilian air travel suspended since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, trains continue to serve as one of the country’s primary means of long-distance transportation.
The latest strike has added to European concerns about Russian military and suspected hybrid activity near NATO territory. Several European governments have accused Moscow of involvement in recent drone incidents and suspicious attacks on infrastructure, allegations Russia has denied. Moscow has, in turn, accused Ukraine of carrying out attacks against Russian transportation infrastructure.
