Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Tuesday that two Ukrainian citizens long affiliated with Russian intelligence have been identified as suspects in two recent acts of sabotage on Poland’s railway network.
One of the suspects had already been convicted in absentia in Ukraine for previous sabotage operations, Tusk told the Polish Parliament.
Over the weekend, an explosion near the town of Mika — southeast of Warsaw — damaged a key railway line connecting Poland with the Ukrainian border. Tusk, who visited the site on Monday, called it “an unprecedented act of sabotage.” Another incident, near Puławy on Monday, forced a passenger train to come to a sudden stop, damaging overhead cables.
Initially, authorities warned that the sabotage on the Warsaw–Lublin line might have been ordered by a “foreign service.” On Tuesday, the spokesperson for Poland’s Special Services Ministry stated that all evidence points to Russian special services. Moscow has not yet commented.
“The intention was to cause a railway disaster,” Tusk told lawmakers.
The prime minister did not reveal the suspects’ names, noting that doing so might disrupt ongoing operations. He confirmed that one suspect resided in Belarus and the other in eastern Ukraine. Both had entered Poland from Belarus in the fall before returning via the Terespol border crossing.
According to Tusk, a C4 military explosive device detonated on November 15 around 21:00 near Mika as a freight train passed, causing minor damage to one wagon. The train operator did not initially notice the explosion.
The second sabotage on November 17 involved a passenger train carrying 475 people, which was forced to halt due to damaged railway infrastructure.
In response, Tusk said he will issue an order to raise the security alert level on select railway lines.
As a key EU and NATO member, Poland plays a crucial logistical role in transporting aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
