Poland says Russia-linked Ukrainians behind rail sabotage
“Those who ordered this – and everything indicates that these are Russian secret services – want to know in which direction the investigation is going,” Dobrzynski told reporters in Warsaw on Tuesday. He cited an investigation carried out by the police and Polish counterintelligence.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the accusation. “It would be very strange if Russia was not the first to be accused,” he said, adding that “Russian hostility is increasing” in Poland.
Military grade explosive
Tusk said on Monday that a military-grade C4 explosive was detonated around 9pm on November 15 near the village of Mika, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the capital.
Damage was also detected on the same railway route, a key link connecting Warsaw with the Ukrainian border crossing at Dorohusk, which has been used to transport passengers and Western aid to Kiev every day since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
President Donald Tusk ordered increased security measures on some railway routes.Credit: access point
The explosion that occurred during the passage of the freight train caused minor damage to the floor of the wagon. It was recorded on CCTV. Tusk said that the train driver did not even notice the incident.
He added that an earlier attempt to derail the train by placing a steel clamp on the rail failed.
Tusk said that in the second incident that occurred on Monday, a train with 475 people on board had to brake urgently due to damage to the railway infrastructure.
The Prime Minister said he would issue an order to raise the alert level on certain railway lines.
One of the suspects was convicted of sabotage by a court in Lviv in May, while the other was a resident of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, Tusk told parliament. He said they both came to Poland from Belarus in the autumn.
Donald Tusk visits the area where a passenger train had to make an emergency stop.Credit: Getty Images
Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that NATO was in close contact with Polish authorities and would await the outcome of the investigation. Since the invasion of Ukraine, the alliance has been plagued by cyberattacks, jammers, sabotage and disinformation campaigns attributed to Russia.
The drone strike in September led to the unprecedented decision to deploy warplanes to shoot down drones that appeared during Russia’s massive airstrike on Ukraine.
Investigators are collecting evidence and gathering information regarding the incident, Dobrzynski said.
