Russian strikes near the Polish frontier jolted Europe’s eastern edge yesterday, with Poland and Ukraine condemning an attack that hit a Kyiv-to-Warsaw passenger train close to a border checkpoint—minutes after another train carrying several EU officials and former British prime minister Boris Johnson had passed through.
Ukraine’s rail operator said Mr Johnson and former US CIA director David Petraeus, both in Kyiv for the annual Yalta European Strategy forum, were travelling on separate trains around the time the Warsaw-bound locomotive was struck.
Mr Petraeus told the New York Times in a telephone interview yesterday that he could hear Russian drones overhead before an explosion, after which passengers were swiftly evacuated.
“For those who have not been under fire, this was terrifying… This is the act of a truly barbaric leader trying to terrorise Ukrainian civilians,” he added.
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
Mr Johnson, travelling in a separate train with several EU officials, denounced the strike in a post 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 said.
“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.”
Boris Johnson condemned the Russian attack
Poland and Ukraine said the Kyiv-Warsaw passenger service was hit about 2km from the Polish border, and both reported there were no casualties.
Poland has been among Kyiv’s most committed allies and, with Ukrainian airspace closed, rail travel to Poland has become one of the principal escape routes from the war—used heavily by refugees.
Ukrzaliznytsia confirmed the attack yesterday but did not specify how close the officials’ train was to the strike site.
“A diplomatic train was at Yagodyn station… among others, security advisers from several EU member states and former European leaders (were) on board, including former UK prime minister Boris Johnson,” the operator said.
“In another train that was at Yagodyn station at the very moment of the attack was former CIA director David Petraeus.”
Trump calls on Zelensky to halt attacks on Russian refineries
The incident unfolded as US President Donald Trump urged Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop attacks on Russian refineries, arguing they were contributing to a diesel fuel shortage and that “there are plenty of other targets”.
Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian oil refineries as part of its effort to weaken Russia’s war capacity.
Russia attacked western Ukraine with drones yesterday, just days after US envoys visited Kyiv and Moscow in an attempt to revive talks aimed at ending the war.
Mr Zelensky said Moscow “deliberately” targeted the locomotive.
“It is precisely to prevent these strikes from spreading further into Europe that Ukrainian men and women fight every day, give their lives, and do not allow the aggression to expand,” Mr Zelensky said.
In Warsaw, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an emergency meeting after the strikes and warned he expected Russia to intensify the conflict “in the coming weeks”.
He added: “We cannot exclude that the escalation will also affect our territory… I hope not.”
Russia said it had struck “railway infrastructure used to transport military cargo” from European countries.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be willing to meet Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in December
Escalation should lead allies to double support – foreign minister
Speaking in Kyiv, Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the latest “escalation” should prompt allies to “double” their support for Ukraine.
“This was just a few hundred metres from the Polish border, this affects the safety of my countrymen,” Mr Sikorski said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Russian President Vladimir Putin viewed Russia as “de facto” at war with Europe.
“Putin’s terror is literally knocking at the door of the European Union and NATO,” Mr Sybiga said.
Russian attacks killed at least two people yesterday in the frontline city of Kramatorsk.
Twenty people, including two children, were also wounded in a second day of strikes on the southern port city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said.
Separately, the Kremlin said talks involving Ukraine and the US on the war could be held in October.
“We do not rule out such a possibility; we are talking about the foreseeable future,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, cited by Russia’s Ria and Tass news agencies.
Previous negotiating rounds have failed, while US-led efforts were disrupted as the Middle East war escalated.
In an interview released on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said he would be prepared to meet Mr Putin at the G20 summit in Miami in December.
Mr Peskov dismissed that as “impossible” in remarks in New Delhi on Saturday, repeating Moscow’s position that any such meeting could only take place in the Russian capital.
