A Russian drone struck a stationary train at Yahodyn, around 2km from the Polish border, shortly after former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and a delegation of European security advisers had passed along the same line, Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday.
There were no reported casualties after the projectile hit the train’s engine. Ukrainian rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia said all passengers on the struck service had been evacuated, and suggested the vehicle may have been a deliberate target.
High-profile passengers travelling nearby
Johnson, together with several national security advisers including the UK's Jonathan Powell, had travelled on a different train along the same route after attending a conference in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials. The rail authority also said that former CIA director David Petraeus was on another train at Yahodyn station at the time.
"I don't know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning," the former prime minister wrote on X.
Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who had also attended the Kyiv conference, told the BBC that passengers on his train were ordered to prepare for evacuation before being permitted to continue their journey.
Claims and safety concerns
Russia said it had struck "railway infrastructure" in western Ukraine. Ukrzaliznytsia, however, reported that the train had departed earlier than scheduled because of a timetable change linked to ongoing threats of Russian strikes. The railway company added that an evacuation order for the struck train had been issued 15 minutes before the jet-propelled drone impact.
The proximity of the strike to the Polish border — and the fact that several senior Western figures were travelling the same line around the same time — will prompt immediate concern among Kyiv’s allies about the risks faced by diplomatic and security delegations moving by rail through frontline and near-frontline routes.
- Location: Yahodyn station, western Ukraine, about 2km from Poland
- Damage: Train engine struck; passengers evacuated; no casualties reported
- Notable travellers nearby: Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson; Jonathan Powell; former CIA chief David Petraeus; Carl Bildt
| Person | Reported position relative to strike |
|---|---|
| Boris Johnson | Had passed the same line on a different train earlier |
| Jonathan Powell | Among national security advisers who had passed earlier |
| David Petraeus | Reported on another train at Yahodyn station at the time |
| Carl Bildt | On a train that was ordered to prepare for evacuation but later allowed to continue |
Ukrainian authorities said the targeted service had left the station sooner than expected because of timetable changes made in response to persistent threats of Russian strikes. The rail operator said this alteration, and the short window between an evacuation order and the strike, complicated the safety of passengers.
The incident is likely to intensify scrutiny in London and among other Western capitals over security arrangements for high-level visits to Ukraine and for the movement of diplomats, officials and visiting experts by rail. It will also raise questions about the extent to which strikes close to NATO borders increase the risk of wider confrontation or miscalculation.
For now, Ukrainian and Polish authorities confirm the strike occurred close to the border and that there were no fatalities. Kyiv’s description that the drone may have targeted a diplomatic train, and Russia’s assertion it struck railway infrastructure, are set to form the basis of diplomatic exchanges in the coming hours and days.
As investigations continue, allied governments will weigh both the operational implications for cross-border travel and any immediate measures needed to protect visiting delegations and civilians using rail corridors in western Ukraine.
