A Russian drone struck a train near the Ukraine-Poland border on Sunday moments after a diplomatic train carrying former Western leaders had departed the same station.
The attack hit Yahodyn station, close to the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing with Poland, shortly after a train carrying Boris Johnson, 60, the former UK prime minister, Carl Bildt, 75, the former Swedish prime minister, and security advisers from several European Union states had left ahead of schedule, according to Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state rail operator. The visitors were returning from the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv, an annual gathering of leaders and experts across politics, business, security and media.
Ukrzaliznytsia said in a Telegram post that it was “highly probable that the Russian drone’s intended target was in fact the diplomatic train, which had departed the station earlier than scheduled.” The company noted that it “constantly adjusts train schedules” to guard against such strikes.
Bildt shared video of the attack on X and clarified that the struck train was not the one he and Johnson had been on. “This wasn’t our train, but the one just minutes after us by the Polish border crossing,” he wrote. “It was evacuated as the Russian drone approached and no one was hurt. Very good safety system. Our train just had an evacuation warning.”
Another train, with former CIA Director David Petraeus on board, was still at Yahodyn station when the drone struck, Ukrzaliznytsia reported. There were no immediate reports of casualties on any of the trains.
Johnson wrote about the incident in a post on X, directly addressing the Russian president’s actions. “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,” Johnson added.
Earlier on Sunday, a Russian drone had already hit a truck less than a mile from Polish territory, according to border guards, forcing the temporary closure of the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing. The back-to-back incidents underscored the precarious security situation along the border even as senior Western figures transited the area.
The Yalta European Strategy conference that Johnson, Bildt and Petraeus had attended brings together prominent voices from across Europe to discuss security and political challenges. This year’s gathering took place as Ukraine continues to defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion, with civilian infrastructure increasingly targeted by drone and missile strikes.
The precise timing of the diplomatic train’s early departure appeared to have prevented a potential direct hit on the former leaders, while the safety protocols in place allowed the subsequent train to be evacuated before impact.