Why Boris Johnson? Putin’s Long-Running Grudge in Focus After Train Strike

The near-miss at Yahodyn rail station has raised questions over whether the Russian drone was aimed at more than railway infrastructure. Ukrzaliznytsia said the intended target may have been the diplomatic train carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and European security officials, which had left the station ahead of schedule. Putin has frequently blamed Johnson for the collapse of the 2022 Istanbul negotiations, claiming his visit to Kyiv persuaded Ukraine not to reach an agreement with Moscow that amounted to Ukrainian capitulation.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. In a 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson, he called that alleged decision “ridiculous and very sad,” again casting Johnson as a key figure behind the breakdown of the talks. Johnson has ridiculed that account as Russian propaganda, while President Volodymyr Zelensky has also denied that the former British prime minister talked Kyiv out of a peace agreement. Ukraine’s negotiating team has said major disagreements remained, while Russia’s atrocities in Bucha fundamentally changed the political environment surrounding the talks. The Order of Freedom Johnson’s ties with Ukraine have only deepened since. He became the first G7 leader to walk the streets of wartime Kyiv alongside Zelensky in April 2022, later making high-profile visits to liberated Bucha and the frontline Zaporizhzhia region. Other Topics of Interest A Visit to a Unique Porcelain Museum in Kyiv A large porcelain museum operates in the capital, featuring unique collections of ceramic works from around the world. In recognition of that support, Zelensky personally awarded Johnson the Order of Freedom – one of Ukraine’s highest state honors – during his final visit to Kyiv as prime minister on Ukraine’s Independence Day in August 2022. The BBC revelation: ‘It would only take a minute’ In the 2023 BBC documentary “Putin vs. the West,” Johnson recalled an extraordinary phone conversation with the Russian leader in early February 2022, as Moscow massed forces around Ukraine. Johnson said he warned Putin that an invasion would be an “utter catastrophe,” bringing sweeping Western sanctions and strengthening rather than weakening NATO around Russia. According to Johnson, Putin responded with what the British leader interpreted as a veiled threat: “He sort of threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute.’” The Kremlin subsequently labeled Johnson’s statement a “lie,” claiming Putin was merely explaining how missiles deployed near Russia’s borders could reach Moscow within minutes if Ukraine joined NATO. Continuous defiance on the rail lines Despite the risks and years of hostile rhetoric from Moscow, Johnson has repeatedly returned to Ukraine and frequently used Ukrzaliznytsia’s rail network to travel into and out of the country. Johnson and other senior Western figures had passed through Yahodyn shortly before the Russian drone struck a stationary locomotive. Ukrzaliznytsia said the diplomatic train had departed ahead of schedule because timetables are continually adjusted in response to Russian threats, and suggested it may have been the intended target. Another train at the station carried former CIA Director David Petraeus. Johnson himself stopped short of claiming Russia had tried to kill him. “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning,” he wrote after the attack. Instead, he turned attention to what Ukrainians endure daily under Russia’s attacks. “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.” Johnson used the incident to renew his calls for stronger Ukrainian air defenses and the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Kyiv. “When are we going to give them the air defenses they need? Why won’t we unfreeze Putin’s cash and give it to Ukraine?” he asked. “The Ukrainians are going to win,” Johnson added, arguing that the war could end much sooner “if we all get serious and give them what they need and deserve.” Sevinj OsmanqiziSevinj Osmanqizi is an experienced journalist who writes extensively for Kyiv Post on foreign policy, international security and geopolitics. Based in Washington, D.C., her work focuses on Ukraine, Russia’s war and the broader post-Soviet space.