Polish PM says attack on rail line was 'deliberate sabotage' and intended to strike a train

LAST UPDATE | 16 hrs ago

POLISH PRIME MINISTER Donald Tusk has said that an explosion that damaged a key rail line used for aid to Ukraine was caused by sabotage.

Tusk, speaking in a series of videos at the scene of the incident on the Warsaw to Lublin line this morning, said that he believed that the attack was intended to hit a train.

The Polish National Prosecutor’s Office has said it has launched a terrorism investigation and said that it believed it was “committed for the benefit of foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland”. It added that the attacked created “an immediate danger of a land traffic disaster”.

In a post on X, Tusk said that the line was a key route into Ukraine for aid. 

“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.

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

The route between Warsaw and Lublin travels on to one of the main rail links in Ukraine at the border town of Chelm. As civilian flights cannot fly into war torn Ukraine, the rail service is the main way into the country for passenger travel as well as freight. 

In a further follow-up post on X from the scene, he also said that the location of the damage was near the villages and towns of Mika, Deblin and Garwolin. The explosion was just one part of the incident with damage elsewhere on the line. 

Tusk said it was an “an attempt to destabilise and destroy railway infrastructure, which could have led to a rail disaster.

“Unfortunately, there is no doubt that we are dealing with an act of sabotage. Fortunately, there was no tragedy, but the matter is nonetheless very serious.

“The case is developing and under investigation, but indeed, unfortunately, there is no doubt that we are dealing with deliberate action — an act of sabotage,” he added.

According to local media reports, the other incident he referred to involved a passenger train carrying 475 passengers near Puławy in south-eastern Poland.

The Polish Defence Minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, said that the Polish military are inspecting the approximately 120km section along the railway running to the border at the town of Hrubieszów.

It is the latest incident across Poland and Europe in which sabotage has been blamed for attacks on critical infrastructure. There have been arson attacks on warehouses as well as other incidents of sabotage on rail lines. 

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In October Poland and Romania announced that they had arrested eight people who were planning attacks on behalf of Russia. 

European Union officials have blamed Russia also for a series of parcel bombs.

Poland has in the past said that it has arrested more than 50 people who were working for Russian intelligence.

In September, 21 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, further deteriorating Warsaw’s relations with Moscow and its ally Minsk – already strained due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Netherlands, France and the UK have also launched investigations into incidents. 

Irish MEP Barry Andrews, Chair of the Development Committee, offered his support on behalf of his grouping to Donald Tusk and said “Europe must stand firm”. 

Meanwhile, the latest incident of alleged drone activity occurred over an airport and airbase in northern Denmark. 

The Aalborg airport in northern Denmark closed for several hours late Sunday after drones were reported in nearby airspace, airport authorities said, the latest in a spate of unexplained drone flights across Europe.

“The airport was closed for landings and take-offs between 9:30 pm and 11:15 pm (2030 and 2215 GMT) last night after suspicious drone activity,” Jan Eliassen, a spokesman for Danish air traffic control company Naviair.

Four flights were affected by the closure, he said.

Aalborg is not just a civilian airport but is also home to Danish special forces, Jaeger Corps, as well as military aircraft.

The incident occurred nearly two months after mysterious drone flights across Denmark led to a one-week ban on civilian drone flights, in order to ensure security during two European summits held in Copenhagen 1 and 2 October.

At the end of September, unidentified drone flights began just days after Denmark announced that it would acquire long-range precision weapons for the first time, due to the threat posed by Russia “for the years to come”.

Danish investigators have so far failed to identify those responsible for the drone flights over Denmark, but Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has pointed the finger at Russia.

The EU is about to host a major event regarding Eu enlargement in the coming days. Also Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a “letter of intent” with French President Emmanuel Macron this morning to clear the way for the Ukrainian military to buy 100 French fighters. 

With reporting from AFP.

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