Poland railway blast was unprecedented act of sabotage, says Donald Tusk | Poland

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the explosion on a section of the railway line used for deliveries to Ukraine as an “unprecedented act of sabotage” that could lead to disaster.

In the statement made by prosecutors on Monday evening, it was stated that “an investigation has been launched in this regard.” Acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature […] committed against the Republic of Poland on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.”

There were no casualties in the incident on the line from Warsaw to Lublin, but if the gap in the tracks had caused a train traveling at full speed to derail, the consequences could have been catastrophic.

After visiting the scene near the village of Mika, 60 miles (97 km) from Warsaw, on Monday, Tusk said: “Unfortunately, there is no doubt that we are dealing with an act of sabotage. Fortunately, no tragedy occurred, but the situation is still very serious.”

He described the attack as “an attempt to destabilize and destroy rail infrastructure that could lead to a rail disaster.”

Tusk said Polish authorities had launched an investigation into the explosion, as well as another incident that occurred over the weekend and appeared to involve railway sabotage. “Just like in previous such cases, we will catch the perpetrators, no matter who their supporters are,” he said.

The attack came amid a sabotage campaign in Poland and other European countries attributed to Russian security services aiming to sow chaos and discord in Europe through support for Ukraine’s war effort. In Poland, this includes fires and explosions in shopping malls and other locations.

The perpetrators are usually Ukrainians, Belarusians or Polish citizens recruited for one-off jobs via the messaging app Telegram.

Police said someone reported hearing an explosion late Saturday evening, but officers conducted checks and found nothing. The damaged section of track was spotted by the driver of a regional train early Sunday morning, who managed to make an emergency stop before the train reached it.

Dariusz Grajda, deputy general director of Polish State Railways, told Polish television that one of the earlier trains had reported a problem with the tracks, meaning that the stopped train had been informed of the problem and was moving slowly enough to stop in time.

The second incident occurred on Sunday evening near the town of Puławy; A train carrying 475 passengers had to make an emergency stop due to damage to overhead power lines and a metal support was found on the tracks. There were also claims that a metal device was found on the rails. No one was injured in the incident, which occurred about 19 miles (30km) from the site of the rail explosion.

Lublin police department said in a statement: “According to preliminary findings, the windows of one of the wagons were broken… Police officers are investigating the scene.” he said.

Tusk will preside Meeting of the national security committee of the Polish government He was summoned on Tuesday morning to discuss railway events. Military commanders, heads of security units and a representative of the Polish president will attend the meeting.

Polish defense minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who usually chairs the committee, said the military would oversee security for the remaining 120 kilometers (75 miles) between the scene and the Ukrainian border.

Security services minister Tomasz Siemoniak said there was a “very high probability” that the actions were carried out on the orders of foreign intelligence services.

He later added: “We are dealing with the following issue: [intelligence] “Not a gang of scrap metal thieves, but the services of a foreign state.”

Polish interior minister Marcin Kierwiński in question A post on social media stated that Poland “is facing unprecedented acts of sabotage in its most recent history.”