Russian Drone Strikes Diplomatic Train in Yahodyn: Boris Johnson, David Petraeus and Carl Bildt Escape Attack Near Polish Border

A Russian drone struck railway infrastructure in Yahodyn this morning, on the border between Ukraine and Poland, just minutes after a diplomatic train had departed the station. On board were European Union security advisers and former European leaders, including former British prime minister Boris Johnson.

Ukraine’s state railways, Ukrzaliznytsia, announced that at the exact moment of the attack another train was also at the station, on which former CIA director David Petraeus was traveling. According to the company, it is “quite likely” that the Russian drone deliberately targeted the train carrying diplomats. The diplomatic train had departed earlier than the scheduled time, as part of precautionary adjustments due to the ongoing Russian threat.

Johnson reacted immediately with a public post: “I don’t know what twisted logic prompted Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning… This is the kind of random and senseless attack that Ukrainians are enduring every day — even on civilian railways.” He held Russia responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Ukrainian railway workers and described the workers and passengers as “absolutely heroic”.

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt confirmed he was traveling on a train near the Polish border when the train behind his was hit by the Russian drone. Bildt had attended the Yalta European Strategy international security conference in Kyiv. “It wasn’t our train, but the one a few minutes behind us,” he wrote on platform X, also publishing a video showing the moment of impact.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, strongly condemned the attack: “Russia’s ‘barbaric terror’ in Yahodyn is not simply a continuation of attacks against our borders. This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly at the doors of the EU and NATO.” From Kyiv on Sunday, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski warned that Russia has used improved drones, with jet engines and more advanced guidance systems: “This is an escalation.”

Russia’s defense ministry stated that its forces continued to strike railway infrastructure in western Ukraine, which — according to Moscow — European countries use to transport military cargo. Also on Sunday, Lithuania temporarily closed Vilnius airport after a suspected drone sighting in its airspace forced NATO to scramble a fighter jet; the signal later turned out to be birds, according to Lithuania’s crisis management center.

Source: CNN