The Ukrainian railway operator reported that former United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David Petraeus were at a nearby border railway station at the time the train was attacked.
However, US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries, stating that it causes diesel shortages and “there are many other targets.”
Ukraine is increasingly targeting Russian oil refineries to damage Russia’s military efforts.
Western Ukraine was attacked by drones on Sunday, just days after US envoys visited Kyiv and Moscow to revive talks on the largest conflict in Europe since the end of World War II.
Meanwhile, European countries are concerned about what they call intensified sabotage acts organized by Russia on their territory.
Poland and Ukraine reported that a passenger train Kyiv–Warsaw was attacked just two kilometers from the Polish border, but no casualties have been reported.
“Just before the locomotive was shot at near the Ukraine-Poland border, a diplomatic train was standing at Yahodyn station. It was carrying, among others, security advisors from several EU member states and former European leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson,” reported the railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia.
“In another train that was at Yahodyn station during the attack was former CIA Director David Petraeus,” the company added.
The operator did not specify how far these officials were from the attacked train.
V. Zelensky stated that Moscow deliberately targeted the locomotive.
“It is precisely to prevent these strikes from spreading further into Europe that Ukrainian men and women fight daily, give their lives, and do not allow aggression to expand,” said V. Zelensky.
Poland warns of possible new attacks
Warsaw is one of Kyiv’s main allies, and with Ukraine’s airspace closed, trains to Poland have become one of the main routes used by refugees fleeing the war-torn country.
After the strikes, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk chaired an extraordinary meeting in Warsaw, warning that he expects Russia to escalate the war “in the coming weeks.”
He added: “We cannot rule out that the escalation will affect our territory as well (…) I hope not.”
Russia stated that it struck “railway infrastructure used for transporting military cargo” from European countries.
Russia “is knocking on Europe’s door”
Speaking in Kyiv, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said this escalation should prompt allies to strengthen their support for Ukraine.
“This happened just a few hundred meters from the Polish border, it affects the security of my compatriots,” said R. Sikorski.
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“I understand that no one died in that particular attack this morning, but it could have easily happened,” he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated that President Vladimir Putin believes Russia is de facto at war with Europe.
“Europe may think or reassure itself that it is not at war with Russia, but Russia does not see it that way. De facto it is already at war with the Euro-Atlantic space, carrying out various hostile actions,” said A. Sybiha.
“Putin’s terror is literally knocking on the doors of the European Union and NATO,” he emphasized.
On Sunday, at least two people were killed in the city of Kramatorsk near the front line during Russian attacks.
Ukrainian officials reported that on the second consecutive day of attacks in the southern port city of Odesa, 20 people were also injured, including two children.
Trilateral talks
The Kremlin, in turn, stated that in response to intensified Kyiv attacks on Russian territory, Moscow is now indiscriminately shelling targets across Ukraine.
V. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow previously avoided reckless strikes but changed its approach after Ukraine began targeting Russia’s economic and strategic infrastructure.
The Kremlin also hinted that talks with Ukraine and the US about the war could take place in October.
“We do not rule out this possibility; we are talking about the near future,” Peskov told journalists, as quoted by Russian state news agencies RIA and TASS.
Several rounds of talks have failed, and US-led efforts have stalled due to the war in the Middle East.
In an interview published on Saturday, V. Zelensky said he would be ready to meet with V. Putin at the G20 summit in Miami in December.
However, on Saturday in New Delhi, D. Peskov told AFP news agency that this is impossible and reiterated Moscow’s demand that the meeting can only take place in the Russian capital.
V. Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals to meet face-to-face with V. Zelensky to end the conflict and has repeatedly stated that Moscow intends to seize the remaining part of eastern Ukraine.
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