Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has identified two Ukrainian citizens, allegedly working for Russian intelligence, as responsible for recent rail sabotage incidents in Poland. The acts, which occurred over the weekend, were intended to cause a major catastrophe and sow discord.
On Saturday, November 15, a military-grade C4 explosive device detonated near the village of Mika on a railway line leading to the Ukrainian border, causing minor damage to a freight train. The explosion was captured on CCTV, and the train driver was unaware of the incident. A second attempt involved placing a steel clamp on the rails, which failed to derail a train.
The following Monday, November 17, another incident near Pulawy forced a packed passenger train with 475 people to brake suddenly due to damaged overhead cables, posing a serious risk. Prime Minister Tusk described both events as unprecedented acts of sabotage aimed at causing a railway catastrophe with potential casualties.
The two suspects, whose names have not been disclosed, are Ukrainian citizens who long worked for Russian intelligence. They entered Poland from Belarus in the autumn and returned there after the attacks via the Terespol border crossing. One suspect had previously been convicted in absentia for sabotage in Ukraine, while the other is from the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Tusk emphasized that the goal was not only to disrupt rail infrastructure but also to stir anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland, which hosts over a million Ukrainian refugees. He stated that Russia’s motivation includes sowing panic, chaos, and speculation, leveraging the social and political consequences.
The Kremlin denied involvement, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissing the accusations as baseless and attributing them to “Russophobia” in Poland. This response is consistent with previous denials of Russian activities in the region.
These incidents are part of a broader pattern of Russian-sponsored sabotage across Europe, where operatives are often recruited via encrypted apps like Telegram. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has increasingly used such tactics after expelling many spies under diplomatic cover.
Poland is considering diplomatic measures, including demands for Belarus and Russia to cooperate in surrendering the suspects. Tusk has also raised the alert level on certain railway lines and highlighted that 55 people have been detained in connection with sabotage acts since last year, with 23 remanded in custody.
