Poland has called on Ukraine’s allies to “double” their support after a Russian strike hit a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train 2km from the Polish border. Poland and Ukraine described the attack as an escalation, and reported no casualties.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the strike occurred only a few hundred metres from the Polish border and affected the safety of Polish citizens. Prime Minister Donald Tusk chaired an emergency meeting in Warsaw and said Russia could escalate the war in the coming weeks, including potentially on Polish territory.
What happened near the border
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow had deliberately struck the locomotive. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the incident “Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and Nato.” Read the context: Russian strikes damage Ukrainian ports as protests continue over defence shake-up.
Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian rail operator, said a diplomatic train carrying former British prime minister Boris Johnson and security advisers from several EU member states was at Yagodyn station shortly before the attack. Former CIA director David Petraeus was aboard another train there. The operator did not say how far either group was from the train that was hit.
Dispute over attacks on Russian energy infrastructure
US President Donald Trump has urged Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel. Trump said the strikes were contributing to a global shortage and argued that the attacks, rather than the US conflict with Iran, were responsible for rising oil prices.
Kyiv says Russia’s oil industry funds and fuels Moscow’s war. The International Energy Agency said disruptions to Russia’s refining system and a near-halt to product exports after intensified Ukrainian attacks had compounded losses in Gulf diesel and oil exports.
What has been said about talks
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not rule out negotiations with Ukraine and the United States in October. Zelenskyy separately said he was willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Miami in December, but Peskov said such a meeting was impossible and repeated Moscow’s demand that any meeting take place in Russia.
What happens next
The Kremlin says negotiations involving Ukraine and the United States could take place in October, while the dispute over a possible Zelenskyy-Putin meeting remains unresolved.
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