Polish railway explosion 'act of sabotage,' says PM Tusk

The weekend blast caused considerable damage to the Warsaw-Lublin railway line in eastern Poland, which borders both Ukraine and Russia and serves as a major logistics hub for aid.

Damage caused by an explosion on a Polish railway line over the weekend was an "act of sabotage," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday.

No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred on the rail line between the eastern city of Lublin and the capital, Warsaw.

The line connects Warsaw to Poland's border with Ukraine.

What did Tusk say about the explosion?

Tusk described the explosion as "unprecedented."

"Blowing up the rail track on the Warsaw-Lublin route is an unprecedented act of sabotage targeting directly the security of the Polish state and its civilians," Tusk said in a post on the platform X.

"This route is also crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine. We will catch the perpetrators, whoever they are," he said.

In a video address, Tusk stressed that the legal implications of the incident are "very serious."

The spokesperson of Poland's national prosecutor's office, Przemyslaw Nowak, said that prosecutors had determined the blast was the result of a "terroristic" act.

He said that prosecutors believed that it was carried out on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency.

Poland has served as a key hub for Western states' delivery of military and other assistance to Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.

It borders both Ukraine and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, as well as Moscow ally Belarus.

Warsaw is one of Ukraine's fiercest supporters within the European Union, and Polish authorities have increasingly reported acts of sabotage with suspects allegedly linked to Russia.

Government ministers speak of confirmed act of sabotage

In a press conference, four government ministers stressed that there had been a confirmed act of sabotage, as well as one "highly probable" incidence of sabotage.

"An explosive device was detonated, damaging the railway tracks. Experts have confirmed this beyond any doubt," Interior Minister Marcin Kerwinski said.

He said that significant amounts of evidence had been collected at the site of the explosion and that the perpetrators are likely to be quickly identified.

Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the Polish military was inspecting a 120 km (74.6 mile) stretch of track leading to the Ukrainian border.

According to Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, there was a high likelihood that the culprits were acting on the orders of foreign intelligence services.

The damaged Lublin-Warsaw route is used by 115 trains daily, said Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn