After a Russian drone strike on a train bound for Warsaw, the Ukrainian railway company warned on Sunday September 13 that a “systemic attack” was now targeting the country’s railways.
“A systemic attack on rail is underway across the country. Our monitoring center and employees are on high alert,” Ukrzaliznytsia Railway Company said.
She indicated significant delays and asked users to prepare for possible evacuations, a procedure already common as Moscow regularly targets infrastructure and rail transport in its drone and missile strikes.
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A Russian drone notably struck a train bound for Warsaw near the Polish border in Ukraine on Sunday, without causing any casualties, Warsaw and kyiv announced.
A “deliberate” strike according to kyiv
Ukraine said the strike took place two kilometers from the border with NATO member Poland and hit the passenger train’s locomotive.
Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Moscow had “deliberately” hit the train. Poland also said another drone struck near a border crossing.
“Putin’s terror is literally knocking on the door of the European Union and NATO,” pointed out the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, demanding “severe sanctions, increased military support for Ukraine and maximum pressure on Russia.”
“Russian terror is not just knocking on the door, it is inside the house,” declared his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, visiting kyiv.
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For its part, Russia assured that it had targeted military targets. “Strikes continued against railway infrastructure in the western regions of Ukraine, which are used to transport military cargo from European countries,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Polish railway company PKP Intercity said the train was connecting kyiv with Warsaw and was carrying 206 passengers. Neither country reported casualties and Intercity said the train was more than six hours late, but would continue its journey to Warsaw after customs formalities at the border.
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Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said one of the drones launched by Moscow struck near the Dorohusk-Yagodyn border crossing, while the other hit the passenger train. “We treat these events with the utmost seriousness. The situation is constantly monitored,” said Marcin Kierwinski.
The strikes came just a week after US envoys visited Moscow and kyiv, as part of efforts to revive Washington-led negotiations to end the conflict.
With AFP
