Poland accuses Russia of escalating conflict after attacks near border

Following Russian attacks on a train traveling from Kyiv to Warsaw and on Ukraine’s border region with Poland, the Polish government accused Moscow of escalating the conflict.

“Putin is escalating,” Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote on X. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has convened a crisis team for this afternoon. Western politicians traveling to Kyiv rely on the rail connection from Poland to Ukraine, as Ukraine’s airspace remains closed.

The locomotive of a passenger train traveling from Kyiv to Warsaw was attacked today at the Yahodyn border station, according to Ukrainian Railways. The passengers were evacuated in time and no one was injured, CE Report quotes MIA.

Polish railway operator PKP said it took over the train from the Ukrainian side more than six hours late and that it continued its journey toward Warsaw.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said a drone also struck western Ukraine one kilometer from the Polish border, while another was detected five kilometers away. Polish F-16 fighter jets and a reconnaissance aircraft monitored the situation, he said. Polish airspace was not violated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote that Moscow’s attacks near the Polish-Ukrainian border in the Volyn region set a locomotive on fire and damaged a petrol station.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for tougher consequences for Moscow. Russian attacks near the Polish-Ukrainian border were not merely a continuation of attacks on Ukraine’s state borders, he wrote on X.

“This is Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” he said.

Prime Minister Tusk has called a crisis meeting of cabinet ministers and uniformed services for later this afternoon.

“We take these events extremely seriously,” Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński wrote on X.

Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed the attacks on railway infrastructure in western Ukraine, saying it was being used to facilitate the transportation of military goods from European countries.

Ukraine has been defending itself with Western support for more than four and a half years against the Russian invasion. Russian attacks frequently cause casualties and damage to railway traffic and stations.

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