More escalation, NATO says. The Western military alliance's Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border hit "close to NATO territory".
He said the Sunday attack, which occurred merely hundreds of meters from Poland's border, smacked of Putin's "desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror." Western media outlets reported early Sunday that a Russian attack drone struck a civilian locomotive on the Kiev-to-Warsaw route with just two kilometers from the border.
Rutte pledged even more support for Ukraine in the wake of the attack. "He thinks that he can stop us from supporting Ukraine and that he can undermine our unity. He is wrong," the NATO chief said of the Russian leader.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has indicated greatly stepped-up border security, and has newly stated: "These coming weeks and months will be a time of very intensified actions on the Russian side, and unfortunately we cannot rule out that this escalation will also affect our territory."
European media reports suggested that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other top officials may have been targeted. A train full of NATO security officials had reportedly just departed the station before the rare daytime strike.
And the former CIA director was on board, and commented:
Former CIA Director David Petraeus was at a Ukrainian train station Sunday when a Russian drone struck a Poland-bound train there.
Petraeus, a retired U.S. Army general, was aboard a separate passenger train at Yahodyn station near the Polish border when a jet-powered Russian drone struck the locomotive of a nearby train, according to multiple reports.
Petraeus said passengers on his train heard drones overhead and were evacuated after passing through Ukrainian customs. A large explosion followed.
According to the NY Times: "David Petraeus, the former C.I.A. director, could hear the Russian drones above his train, which had just passed through Ukrainian customs on its way to Poland on Sunday morning. He and other passengers were quickly evacuated. Not long after, he heard a huge explosion."
Petraeus told the outlet, "For those who have not been under fire, this was terrifying."
As for former UK PM Johnson, he condemned the attack but did not indicate that he thought he was being targeted. "What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day – even on civilian railways," Johnson wrote on X. The particular train that he and other Western security officials were on was issued an evacuation order, but then soon after was allowed to proceed on its destination.
Some pundits are pointing to a possible false flag scenario. It also could just be a strong 'warning' for from Moscow, after moving forward with strikes on 'decision-making centers' in Ukraine.