Ex-UK PM Boris Johnson, European officials escape Russian drone strike on train near Poland

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and multiple European officials narrowly avoided a Russian drone strike on a passenger train near Ukraine's border with Poland on Sunday. The drone hit the locomotive of a train on the Kyiv-Warsaw route, approximately two kilometers from the Polish border in Ukraine's Volyn region. Despite the incident, Johnson, who was not on the struck train, and other Western figures were unhurt as they traveled on a different train ahead of the affected service following their attendance at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv.

The 2026 Yalta European Strategy conference, held on September 11 and 12, convened about 700 delegates from 28 countries, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's security adviser Günter Sautter, UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, and other European officials.

Boris Johnson characterized the drone strike as a "random and senseless attack," emphasizing the ongoing threats facing Ukrainian civilians and railway workers. He also reiterated his plea for Western nations to bolster Ukraine's air-defense systems and utilize frozen Russian assets to aid Kyiv, estimating that over €140 billion was frozen in a Belgian bank account and approximately £10 billion in London.

The attack unfolded amid Russia's intensified assaults on Ukraine, with the Ukrainian Air Force reporting 453 Russian drones deployed during the early hours of the attack. Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, denounced the incident as an affront to "the doors of the EU and NATO," alleging that Moscow intentionally targeted infrastructure connecting Ukraine to its European allies.