Johnson and Petraeus caught in border rail strike; UK leader demands air defense for Ukraine
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Ex-UK PM Boris Johnson condemns Russian drone attack on train near Polish border (Photo: Ritzau Scanpix/Bo Amstrup via REUTERS)
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned a Russian strike on a passenger locomotive near the Polish border as senseless, in his post on X on Sept. 13.
"I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning," he wrote.
"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 underscored that the Russian dictator bears personal responsibility for the deaths of roughly 1,700 employees of national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia killed throughout the war.
The former prime minister argued that the United Kingdom should lead by transferring £10 billion (roughly $13.1 billion) in frozen Russian assets held in London banks directly to Ukraine. By taking this step, UK could set a decisive precedent for other partners, notably Belgium, which holds €140 billion (approximately $154 billion) in frozen Russian state funds.
"The Ukrainians will win — that much has been obvious from the last three days in their wonderful country. But we will end this horrible war much faster if we all get serious and give them what they need and deserve," Johnson concluded.
On Sept. 13, Russian forces launched a drone strike targeting a passenger train near the Yahodyn border checkpoint — roughly two kilometers from the Polish frontier in Volyn Oblast. The train was traveling from Kyiv to Warsaw. Timely evacuations prevented civilian casualties.
According to Der Spiegel, the drone raid triggered an emergency evacuation of high-level European delegates departing Ukraine. The passengers included Johnson, European government security advisers, German Bundestag members, diplomats, and academics. Rail operators brought the train to a precautionary halt before the impact.
Ukrzaliznytsia confirmed that the diplomatic train departed Yahodyn station shortly before the locomotive was hit. Meanwhile, former CIA Director David Petraeus was aboard a second train stopped at the station at the exact moment of the attack. Railway officials noted they could not rule out that the jet-powered strike drone was deliberately hunting the train carrying international diplomats, which had departed ahead of schedule due to incoming UAV warnings.
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