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Russian Drone Hits Train Minutes After Boris Johnson Passes
A Russian drone struck a passenger train near Ukraine’s border with Poland just minutes after a diplomatic train carrying Boris Johnson and other senior European figures had passed through the same area.
U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)
The train carrying Johnson and other European officials escaped the attack by minutes, raising the frightening possibility that the former British prime minister may have been the intended target.
The incident unfolded Sunday, September 13, near Yahodyn in western Ukraine, just 2 kilometers from NATO-member Poland.
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Johnson was returning from the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv alongside former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and European security advisers.
Their diplomatic train was traveling along a railway route frequently used by foreign delegations leaving Kyiv.
Then the timetable changed.
Because of the ongoing Russian drone threat, Ukrainian railway officials moved the diplomatic train’s departure earlier than scheduled.
That decision may have been critical.
The train carrying Johnson and the European delegation passed through Yahodyn and continued toward Poland.
Minutes later, a Russian jet-powered drone struck another passenger train traveling behind it.
The drone hit the locomotive. The train was carrying 206 passengers, but Ukrainian railway officials detected the approaching drone and warned the crew, allowing passengers to evacuate before the strike. No casualties were reported.
The timing immediately raised questions.
Ukraine’s state railway operator said it was “highly probable” that the diplomatic train carrying Johnson and the other European officials had been the intended target.
That remains an assessment, not a confirmed fact. Russia has not acknowledged targeting Johnson or the diplomatic delegation.
Instead, Moscow said its strikes were aimed at railway infrastructure used to transport military cargo from Europe.
But the incident was close enough to NATO territory to trigger a much wider security alarm.
A separate Russian drone strike hit a truck less than a mile from the Polish border, temporarily closing the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing. Polish officials described the attacks as an escalation as Russian strikes moved dangerously close to NATO territory.
Johnson later broke his silence.
He condemned the attack on the Ukrainian railway and questioned what he called Vladimir Putin’s “warped logic”, describing attacks on civilian railways as the kind of danger Ukrainians endure every day.
Another extraordinary figure was also nearby.
Former CIA Director David Petraeus was reportedly at Yahodyn station on another train when the strike occurred. His train was not hit.
The timeline now makes the incident particularly chilling.
First: Johnson, Bildt and European security officials leave Kyiv.
Then: their train reaches Yahodyn near the Polish border.
Next: railway officials adjust the schedule because of the drone threat.
Minutes later: Johnson’s diplomatic train clears the area.
Then: a Russian drone strikes the passenger train behind it.
Finally: the attack is revealed to have happened only about 2 kilometers from NATO territory.
Johnson walked away unharmed.
So did the other European officials.
But the incident demonstrated just how thin the line has become between a battlefield strike and a potential confrontation involving NATO and Western political figures.
For Johnson, it was a near miss.
For Europe, it was another warning that Russia’s drone war is getting dangerously close to the alliance’s doorstep.
Editor’s Note: Ukrainian authorities have suggested the diplomatic train may have been the intended target, but there is currently no independent confirmation of Russian intent. What is confirmed is the extraordinary timing: a train carrying Boris Johnson and senior European figures passed through the area shortly before a Russian drone struck the train behind it, just 2 kilometers from Poland.
