Poland: Railway sabotage meant to trigger a ‘major disaster’

The perpetrators’ plan included a “worst-case scenario” designed to spark a “major railway disaster.”

“They were, in the worst sense of the word, professionals. These were not insignificant agents hired to set fire to paint warehouses,” Siemoniak said. 

This incident is part of a broader campaign of sabotage in Europe, which includes parcel explosions at DHL warehouses and an assassination attempt on Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger in Germany.

Yevgeny Ivanov, a Ukrainian citizen previously suspected by Polish law enforcement of organizing November’s railway explosions, also attempted an attack on a drone manufacturing plant in Lviv earlier this year. The operation was allegedly directed by Yuri Sizov, a Russian GRU military intelligence officer stationed at the elite Senezh special operations center.

On Nov. 16, Poland announced that the Demblin–Warsaw railway section had been damaged in an act of sabotage. Prime Minister Donald Tusk later said two Ukrainian citizens who had arrived from Belarus and were cooperating with Russian special services are suspected of carrying out the attack.

On Nov. 18, the investigation determined that the explosives used in the attack were remotely detonated by phone. One of the devices exploded, while a second failed to detonate for reasons that remain unclear. 

On Nov. 19, Onet reported that authorities had identified four additional individuals who allegedly assisted the main suspects.