Boris Johnson’s train had just passed a Ukrainian station. Moments later, a Russian drone struck

Charles Hymas and Emily SmithSeptember 14, 2026 — 11:48amLondon: Former British prime minister Boris Johnson was on a train travelling from Ukraine to Poland when the railway line was targeted by a Russian drone.Johnson was returning from a security conference in Kyiv when he was woken by guards at 5am on Sunday and told to prepare for an evacuation.The warning was issued after another passenger train behind Johnson’s train was attacked in the province of Volyn, almost two kilometres from the Polish border.An all-clear was given shortly afterwards when no further drones were detected, enabling Johnson’s train to continue. The former prime minister was unharmed, the London Telegraph understands.Former CIA chief David Petraeus had been on board another train at the station at the time of the drone strike, Ukraine’s state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia, said.Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who was also on board the private train with other European diplomats, said they were told the train immediately behind them had been hit by a Russian drone.“This wasn’t our train [that was hit], but the one just minutes after us by the [Polish] border crossing,” said Bildt. “It was evacuated as the [Russian] drone approached and no one was hurt.”Ukrainian authorities said the train was carrying 206 passengers, who were seen running in fear after the attack. They confirmed there were no casualties.Footage circulating on social media appeared to show trucks on fire at the crossing, while Ukrainian media reported that a petrol station had also been hit.The attack came close to the Polish border, according to Ukrainian railway officials, raising concerns about Russian strikes reaching increasingly close to NATO territory.‘I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive’.Boris Johnson, former British prime ministerJohnson was in Ukraine alongside advisers from other European nations for the Yalta European Strategy, a security conference where Western officials met officials from the Ukrainian government to discuss possible peace negotiations with Russia.Other attendees at the conference, which took place in the bunker of a Kyiv hotel, included Günter Sautter, one of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s closest advisers, and Jonathan Powell, the UK’s National Security Adviser, who were also on board the train with Johnson.Robin Wagener, a Green Party member of the German parliament, who was also on board the train, expressed his shock after the attacks.The drone hit the train’s locomotive, causing serious damage.AP“These drone attacks are blind terror against Ukrainian civilians and a dangerous escalation in Putin’s war,” Wagener told Der Spiegel.Johnson was a staunch ally of Kyiv while he was prime minister, overseeing hundreds of millions of pounds in financial support and weapons deliveries.The UK’s decision to ship anti-tank weapons to Ukraine in January 2022 and Johnson’s belief that Ukraine can win the war made him immensely popular.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described him as a “special” leader who played a key role in shaping Europe’s support for Kyiv in the early stages of the war.One Kyiv bakery created a special pastry, which mimicked Johnson’s anarchic mop of blond hair, as a show of gratitude. A 2022 poll in Ukraine found he had a 90 per cent approval rating.Boris Johnson speaks at a literary festival in Lviv last week. His ardent support for Ukraine has won him enduring support there.Global Images Ukraine via Getty ImagesJohnson has continued to visit Ukraine since his resignation in July 2023, including for his TV documentary, Boris Johnson: Into Ukraine’s Kill Zone, which aired over the northern summer.After the attack, Johnson posted on X: “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning. 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.“So far, Putin has been responsible for the deaths of 1700 staff of Ukrzaliznytsia – Ukrainian Railways. They and their daily passengers are absolutely heroic.“When are we going to give them the air defences they need? Why won’t we unfreeze Putin’s cash and give it to Ukraine? There is more than €140bn in a Belgian bank account – and about £10bn in London. Britain could show a lead.“The Ukrainians are going to win – that much was clear from the last three days in their wonderful country. But we will get this dreadful war over much faster if we all get serious and give them what they need and deserve.”Attacks near Polish borderThe attack was one of two Russian strikes near the Polish border overnight, after a truck was hit 800 metres from the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing, one of the most important links with the European Union.Polish jets were scrambled, and an emergency alarm sounded.“Due to the activity of the Russian Federation’s jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, military aviation operations have commenced in Polish airspace,” Polish armed forces said on social media.A woman walks past a burning warehouse in Odesa, struck by a Russian drone.AP Photo/Michael ShtekelPolish border guards said the crossing point stopped working after the attack but had since resumed operations.Video footage showed a large fire at a gas station near the crossing point, with smoke billowing into the sky. There were no reported casualties from the fire.Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had targeted infrastructure facilitating military cargo shipments from Europe in western Ukraine.Ukraine operates several border crossings with Poland, through which a significant proportion of the military and humanitarian aid from its allies is delivered to the country.Zelensky described the strikes as “deliberate”. Writing on X, he said: “It is precisely to prevent these strikes from spreading further into Europe that Ukrainian men and women fight every day, give their lives, and do not allow the aggression to expand.”The strikes are another example of Russia’s increasingly aggressive incursions on NATO’s doorstep.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Putin was “knocking” on the doors of NATO and the EU.“Russia’s barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders,” Sybiha said 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 added.Russia linked to wider attacksThe Kremlin is suspected of being behind covert attacks on several sites in NATO member countries, including a warehouse in Britain, a weapons factory in Estonia and an airport in Germany.Such is the fear gripping Eastern Europe that a NATO jet was also scrambled in Lithuania on Sunday and Vilnius airport was closed because of a possible drone sighting. However, it turned out to be a flock of birds, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said.Putin stands alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in India.Kristina Solovyova/Pool Sputnik Kremlin via APAttacks continued elsewhere overnight. Five people were injured in a Russian drone attack in Odesa.“Residential areas were damaged in several districts of the city. Authorities are assessing the full extent of the damage,” Serhiy Lysak, the head of Odesa’s military administration, said on Telegram. The attack came a day after two people were killed in strikes on the city.Ukraine’s military, meanwhile, said it hit an oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai region and the Taneco oil refinery in Russia’s Tatarstan.Fires were reported at both facilities. Russian regional authorities said two people were killed and 12 injured in the strike on the Taneco refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan.Despite the attacks, the Kremlin has said three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States could take place next month.“We do not rule out such a possibility; we are talking about the foreseeable future,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about talks potentially taking place in October.In India, where Putin had attended a BRICS summit, Peskov said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had both offered help to broker a peace settlement.From our partners