A Russian drone struck a passenger train on the border between Ukraine and Poland, a member of the Western military alliance NATO, on Sunday, shortly after former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other European diplomats had used the same line.
The train, which was traveling along a route frequently used by foreign delegations returning from Kiev, was attacked just 2 kilometers from the border with Poland, according to the Ukrainian railway operator.
There were no reports of casualties.
“It wasn’t our train, but the one that was passing a few minutes after us, near the border crossing. It was emptied when the drone approached and no one was injured,” said Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, on X.
He and other politicians were returning to Europe by train after taking part in a conference in Kiev.
“It is entirely possible that the target intended by the Russian drone was the diplomatic train, which left the station earlier than scheduled after train times had been adjusted in real time due to the constant threat of Russian attacks,” Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian railway operator, said on Telegram.
Boris Johnson, who was also on the train that left the station shortly before the attack, condemned the attack as “random and senseless” in a post on Instagram.
With the front line of the war virtually unmoving, both Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range strikes in recent weeks in an attempt to change the course of the war.
The Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, described Russia’s escalating attacks at NATO’s doors as “an escalation.”
Earlier Sunday, a truck less than 1 kilometer from the Ukraine-Pol Poland border was also struck, causing the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing to briefly suspend operations, according to border guards.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had attacked infrastructure that facilitates the transportation of military cargo from Europe in western Ukraine.
Russia began attacking Ukraine’s border posts with its Western allies in recent weeks, as part of an expanding campaign by both sides to undermine the opponent’s economic infrastructure, more than four years after the start of the Russian invasion.
