“We Are Not Scared”: EU Leader After Russian Strike Near Poland

A Russian drone struck a passenger train near Ukraine’s border with Poland, prompting European leaders to warn that Moscow is seeking to intimidate Western countries and discourage them from supporting Kyiv.

The drone hit the locomotive of a Warsaw-bound passenger train at Yahodyn railway station in Ukraine’s Volyn region, about 2 kilometers from the Polish border. Ukrainian authorities said all passengers were evacuated and no casualties were reported.

The strike came shortly after another train carrying senior European officials and former leaders had passed through the same station on its way toward Poland. Ukrainian Railways said the diplomatic train had been running ahead of schedule and could have been the intended target of the Russian drone.

Among those traveling on the earlier train were former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former CIA Director David Petraeus and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, along with security advisers from several European countries.

Petraeus, who was at the station on another train when the attack occurred, told The New York Times that he heard Russian drones overhead followed by an explosion, describing the experience as “terrifying.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the attack appeared to be a warning aimed at Western countries supporting Ukraine.

“It is clearly meant to scare Western countries from supporting Ukraine, from going to Ukraine to show support,” Kallas said in Finland, where she was attending a conference on Arctic strategy.

She said Europe should respond by doing the opposite of what Moscow appeared to want.

“I think we should act the opposite. We should show that we are there for Ukraine and we are not scared,” Kallas said, warning that otherwise Russia could achieve its goal of forcing Ukraine into submission.

A spokesperson for Kallas said the EU “strongly condemn[s] the latest Russian strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border, including the attack against the passenger train.” The spokesperson also pointed to the EU’s recent approval of a €6.1 billion tranche from a planned €90 billion loan for Ukraine, saying the bloc would continue helping Kyiv strengthen its defenses.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the attack had a clear political purpose: “to intimidate Europeans, discourage them and, above all, drive a wedge between them.” He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly increased pressure on the EU and NATO because “our strength lies in our unity.”

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also called for stronger support for Ukraine and tougher measures against Russia. “We have to [...] do even more to help Ukraine, to support Ukraine,” he said, calling for more sanctions and other political measures. “We are united here in Europe,” Orpo added.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said the attack demonstrated that Russia was “challenging all of us.” He argued that Moscow’s ambitions went beyond any particular geographic region and involved testing Europe’s rule of law, democratic institutions and way of life.

Polish officials described the incident as an escalation. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he expected Moscow to intensify the war in the coming weeks, while Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called on allies to “double” their support for Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius took a more cautious tone, saying he was taking the reports of drones approaching trains near the Ukrainian-Polish border very seriously, but adding that Europe “must not be forced into an escalation.”

Russia has said its forces were operating across Ukrainian territory and would continue doing so. Russian authorities also said the strike targeted railway infrastructure used to transport military cargo from European countries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting the locomotive. He said Ukrainians were fighting every day to prevent such attacks from spreading into Europe.

The train strike came during a major wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine. More than 450 Russian drones and missiles were launched overnight, according to Ukrainian officials, with at least six people killed and more than 40 wounded. Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted 405 drones and four missiles.

Western Ukraine, which has generally seen less fighting than Kyiv and areas closer to the front, was particularly heavily targeted. The attacks also triggered air raid warnings in Poland.

The strikes came as EU diplomats met in Brussels for last-minute talks on extending sanctions against more than 2,600 Russian individuals and entities linked to the war. The sanctions were due to expire Tuesday, with their renewal reportedly delayed by a dispute over whether one person should be removed from the list.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Russian President Vladimir Putin viewed Russia as being “de facto” at war with Europe, warning that “Putin's terror is literally knocking at the door of the European Union and NATO.”

In other attacks, Russian strikes killed at least two people in Kramatorsk, while Ukrainian officials reported that 20 people, including two children, were wounded in the southern port city of Odesa.