Two Ukrainians working for Russia behind rail sabotage, Polish PM says

Two Ukrainian citizens who have long worked for Russian intelligence have been identified as suspects behind two acts of sabotage against Poland’s railway network, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

Tusk told the Polish parliament that one of the suspects had been convicted in absentia for acts of sabotage in Ukraine.

On Monday, he visited the site of an explosion near Mika, southeast of Warsaw, that damaged the railway line leading to the Ukrainian border at the weekend, describing it as “an unprecedented act of sabotage”.

Another incident further down the line near Pulawy on Monday caused a full train to stop suddenly and damage was detected on overhead lines.

Polish authorities had initially said it was very likely that two acts of sabotage on the Warsaw-Lublin railway line had been ordered by a “foreign service”.

A spokesman for Poland’s special services minister later said on Tuesday that “everything points to these being Russian special services.”

Russia has not yet made a public statement about the allegations.

“The aim was to cause a railway disaster,” Tusk told MPs.

Poland’s prime minister said he would not reveal the names of the two suspects because that could complicate the operation, although he told parliament that one resided in Belarus and the other in eastern Ukraine.

He added that both suspects crossed from Belarus to Poland in the autumn and are now returning there through the Terespol border crossing in southwestern Belarus, close to the Ukrainian border.

Tusk said a military-grade C4 explosive detonated near the village of Mika around 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on November 15.

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 said an attempt to derail a train by placing a steel clamp on the rail had failed before.

Tusk said that the second act of sabotage on November 17 was when a train carrying 475 passengers had to brake suddenly due to damage to the railway infrastructure.

The Prime Minister also said he would issue an order later on Tuesday to raise the alert level on certain railway lines.

He said that since the beginning of last year, 55 people were detained on suspicion of aiding, preparing or acting in sabotage actions, and 23 of them were arrested.

Tusk added that Russia’s motivation was to create panic and arouse anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Polish society, which hosts more than a million Ukrainian war refugees.

“I want to emphasize that what the Russian authorities care about is not only the direct impact of such action, but also the social and political consequences of the occurrence of this action,” he said.

“This of course means disorder, chaos, panic, speculation and uncertainty.”

Poland is a member of both NATO and the EU, and its rail network has been vital for delivering aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In September, Tusk said three Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace by Polish and other NATO aircraft During night attacks on Ukraine.

He said authorities recorded 19 drone strikes in that period, with some flying deep enough to temporarily close four airports, including Warsaw’s main hub, Chopin.

The Russian defense ministry responded by saying there were “no plans” to target facilities on Polish territory.