WARSAW/KYIV: A Russian drone has struck a train near Ukraine’s border with Poland, hitting its engine shortly after former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior European security officials travelled along the same railway line.
No casualties were reported. Ukrainian authorities said passengers on the affected train were evacuated after the strike at Yahodyn, about 2km from the Polish border.
BIG: Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Merz’s top security adviser, and security advisers from UK, France, and Italy were all on a chartered night train from Kyiv when a Russian drone hit the locomotive of a passenger train on the same route near the Polish border.
Their train… pic.twitter.com/PtJRqVAvPr
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 13, 2026
The incident has heightened concerns in Ukraine and Poland over the growing proximity of Russian attacks to Nato territory, although there was no indication that the drone crossed into Poland.
Strike Near Border
Ukraine’s state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, said the train had been targeted at Yahodyn and that the evacuation order was issued about 15 minutes before the strike.
It said the train had departed the station earlier than expected following a timetable change made because of continuing threats of Russian attacks.
READ ALSO: Russia, Ukraine Trade Major Drone Strikes As War Escalates
Ukrzaliznytsia said it was “quite possible” that the diplomatic train carrying European officials had been the intended target.
Russia said its forces had struck “railway infrastructure” in western Ukraine, without saying whether the train carrying officials was targeted.
Former CIA director David Petraeus, who was on another train at Yahodyn station when the attack occurred, described the incident as “terrifying”.
“This is the act of a truly barbaric leader trying to terrorise Ukrainian civilians,” he told the New York Times.
European Officials
Johnson and senior European security officials, including the UK’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell, had travelled through the area on their return from a conference in Kyiv.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who also attended the conference, said passengers on his train were ordered to prepare for evacuation after it stopped.
“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,” he told the BBC.
His train later reached Dorohusk, Poland, safely.
Reports have suggested Bildt was travelling on the same train as Johnson, but Johnson has not confirmed details of his journey.
Johnson said on X that he did not know what “warped logic” had led Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack a stationary Ukrainian locomotive near the Polish border.
I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning. What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day – even on civilian railways. So far Putin…
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 13, 2026
He described the incident as “the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day – even on civilian railways” and called on Ukraine’s allies to provide more air-defence systems.
Rising Border Tensions
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attacks at Yahodyn represented Putin’s terror “knocking” on the doors of the EU and NATO.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk held an emergency meeting following the incident, warning that Russian actions were moving increasingly close to Poland’s border.
“The escalation of the actions from the Russian side is becoming a reality, and they are getting closer and closer to our border,” he said.
The strike comes amid a broader Russian campaign against Ukraine’s railway network and other transport infrastructure.
Russia has increasingly targeted railway stations, depots, petrol stations and border crossings during the war, while Ukraine relies heavily on its railways because civilian air travel has remained suspended since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to its allies, particularly the US, for additional air-defence interceptors to counter Russian drones and missiles.
Recent attacks have also hit railway infrastructure and border crossings, while European governments have separately accused Russia of involvement in a series of suspicious incidents and fires on their territory. Moscow has denied such allegations.
