Kyiv: A Russian drone struck a railway near the Ukraine-Poland border on Sunday, shortly after high-profile international figures, including former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, had passed through the location, Ukrainian state rail officials reported.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the diplomatic carriage carrying Johnson, Bildt and security delegates representing several European Union member states departed Yahodyn station ahead of schedule as the delegation returned from a security summit in Kyiv. Authorities confirmed that no injuries were reported among those aboard the affected locomotives.
In an official update shared via Telegram, the railway enterprise stated, “It is highly probable that the Russian drone’s intended target was in fact the diplomatic train, which had departed the station earlier than scheduled.”
Bildt later uploaded footage on social media platform X showing the strike site at Yahodyn station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland.
“This wasn’t our train, but the one just minutes after us by the Polish border crossing,” Bildt stated. “It was evacuated as the Russian drone approached and no one was hurt. Very good safety system. Our train just had an evacuation warning.”
Both leaders, along with fellow travellers, had visited the Ukrainian capital to attend the Yalta European Strategy conference, an annual summit bringing together figures from governance, commerce, defence and journalism.
Ukrzaliznytsia also disclosed that a separate locomotive carrying former CIA director David Petraeus remained at the Yahodyn facility when the aerial vehicle detonated. The railway operator said timetables are routinely adjusted to protect against hostile targeting.
Taking to X, Johnson commented, “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.”
He further stated, “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.”
Earlier on Sunday, border security personnel confirmed that a drone struck a commercial lorry less than a mile from Polish sovereign territory, prompting a temporary suspension of operations at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint.
The incidents highlighted ongoing vulnerabilities from aerial attacks amid diplomatic and public railway movements.
