Russian drone attack near the Polish border: Poland warns of escalation

After the Russian drone attack on a passenger train - just a few kilometers from the Polish border - Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned of a further escalation of the war.

Although there was no violation of NATO territory, the incident represented an “escalation” by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

The locomotive of a passenger train on the route from Kiev to Warsaw was hit by a Russian drone in the Volhynia region of Ukraine on Sunday morning. According to the Ukrainian State Railways, the train with 208 people on board was only around two kilometers from the border with Poland. Nobody was injured. “The monitoring group warned the train crew of the danger in advance, as a result of which no one was injured,” the railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said on Telegram. The train continued its journey after a delay of around six hours.

The attack occurred shortly after another train carrying European politicians left the station. According to media reports, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former CIA chief David Petraeus were among those staying there.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha viewed the incident as a signal to the West. “This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO,” he wrote on Platform X.

According to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, it was a deterrent tactic by Moscow. “I think it's obviously intended to scare Western countries into supporting Ukraine,” Kallas said. In response, the West must show “that we are there for Ukraine and are not afraid,” emphasized Kallas. Otherwise, Russia would achieve its goals of “oppressing Ukraine.”

The incident caused concern in Warsaw. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an emergency meeting with leading political and military representatives. He then stated that an expansion of Russian activities into Polish territory could not be ruled out in the coming weeks or months. Attempts to disrupt or paralyze border crossings are also conceivable. Poland will examine how allies could be mobilized to prepare for a possible joint response.

A statement from Sikorski towards Moscow caused additional tension. Poland's foreign minister said: "If Russia attacked us and we pulled out all the stops, I think we would defeat Russia pretty quickly. We have overwhelming air superiority over Russia." In fact, Sikorski did not mean a direct confrontation between Poland and Russia, but rather spoke of a potential conflict between Russia and NATO.

However, there was a clear reaction from the Kremlin: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described Sikorski's statements as "brainwashing Russophobia."

The incident is part of a series of attacks on the Ukrainian railway infrastructure. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, it was the second attack on railway facilities within a weekend.