London, Sept. 14: Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior European security officials narrowly escaped a Russian drone attack after a Russian drone struck a Ukrainian train near the Ukraine-Poland border shortly after the train carrying them had passed through the area.
The attack took place in Yahodyn, damaging the train’s engine but causing no casualties, the BBC reported. Ukrainian officials said all passengers had been safely evacuated from the train before the attack.
Johnson, Jonathan Powell, the British prime minister’s national security adviser, and other European national security officials were returning from a conference in Kyiv on a separate train travelling along the same railway line.
Russia said it had targeted “railway infrastructure” in western Ukraine. Ukraine’s state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, said the target may have been a diplomatic train.
The company said a change to the timetable due to the threat of Russian attacks had caused the diplomatic train to leave the station earlier than expected.
According to the railway company, passengers on the affected train were ordered to leave about 15 minutes before the jet-powered Russian drone struck.
The railway authority also said former CIA Director David Petraeus was travelling on another train at Yahodyn station when the drone attack took place.
Ukrainian and Polish officials said the Russian drone struck about two kilometres from the Polish border.
Passengers told to prepare for evacuation
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who attended the Kyiv conference, told the BBC that passengers were told to prepare for evacuation after his train was stopped. A few minutes later, they were informed that the situation was under control and that the journey could continue.
“After the train I was travelling on was stopped, we were told to prepare for evacuation. A few minutes later, we were informed that the situation was under control and that we could continue,” he said.
The train then safely reached Dorohusk station on the Polish border.
Some reports claimed Bildt and Johnson were travelling on the same train, but Johnson has not confirmed the details.
Writing on X, Johnson said: “I have no idea what twisted logic inspired Putin to blow up a Ukrainian locomotive stopped this morning at the Polish border.”
He said Ukrainians were facing daily attacks even on civilian railways and urged Kyiv’s allies to provide Ukraine with urgently needed air defence systems.
Ukraine has repeatedly called on its allies, particularly the United States, to provide more interceptors to counter Russian attacks involving fast-moving ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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