Russian drone strikes train near Polish border, Ukraine says
Ukrainian authorities said a Russian drone struck a passenger train at Yahodyn station near the country's border with Poland, with no casualties reported among those on board.
Ukraine's state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said the attack occurred shortly after a diplomatic train carrying several European figures, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, had departed the station.
Diplomatic train left station early
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the diplomatic train departed earlier than scheduled for security reasons amid the continuing threat of Russian air strikes.
The railway operator said it was possible that the drone had been intended to target the diplomatic train. However, it stressed that this assessment was based on operational circumstances and has not been independently verified.
Bildt also said on social media that the train struck by the drone was not the one carrying the European delegation.
He said the attack occurred only minutes after their train had left Yahodyn station, adding that passengers aboard the other train were evacuated before the strike and no one was injured.
Senior officials were in the area
Johnson, Bildt and other European officials had been returning from the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv when the incident occurred.
Ukrzaliznytsia also said another train carrying former CIA Director David Petraeus was at Yahodyn station at the time of the attack.
The company noted that train routes and departure times are regularly adjusted because of continuing Russian air strikes and said precautionary measures remain in place to protect railway operations and passengers.
Border crossing temporarily closed
Following the attack, Johnson accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of carrying out what he described as a senseless assault on civilian railway infrastructure.
Ukrainian authorities said the exact target of the drone has not been independently confirmed.
On the same day, Ukraine's border guard service reported that another Russian drone struck a truck less than one mile from Polish territory, prompting the temporary closure of the Yahodyn–Dorohusk border crossing.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks affecting Ukraine's railway infrastructure since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia, meanwhile, said its strikes targeted railway infrastructure used to transport European military cargo, a claim that has not been independently verified. (ILKHA)
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