Ukraine's railway operator has claimed that a Russian drone Boris Johnson narrowly avoided may have been intended to strike his train. The former Prime Minister had to flee across the border into Poland when Moscow struck a train mere minutes behind him at Yahodyn station.
Train departed early due to threat of strikes
His train had left the station early as he was on his way home from a security conference in Kyiv, alongside former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt and a number of European security advisers. According to a translation, rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia said in a Telegram post that it was "quite possible" the drone had been aimed at Mr Johnson's train.
The company said the train "had departed the station earlier than scheduled due to real-time adjustments to train timetables necessitated by the constant threat of Russian strikes". It added that former CIA director David Petraeus had been on a different train that was still at the station when the drone struck. No casualties have been reported.
Johnson condemns attack and urges support for Ukraine
After the ordeal, Mr Johnson called Vladimir Putin "warped" for his military's attack on civilian infrastructure, and slammed the Government for not giving seized Russian assets to Ukraine.
He said: "I don't know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.
"What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day – even on civilian railways.
"So far Putin has been responsible for the deaths of 1700 staff of Ukrzaliznytsia – Ukrainian Railways. They and their daily passengers are absolutely heroic.
"When are we going to give them the air defences they need? Why won't we unfreeze Putin's cash and give it to Ukraine? There is more than €140 billion in a Belgian bank account – and about £10 billion in London. Britain could show a lead.
"The Ukrainians are going to win – that much was clear from the last three days in their wonderful country. But we will get this dreadful war over much faster if we all get serious and give them what they need and deserve."
Passengers unharmed and journey continued
Günter Sautter, foreign and security policy advisor to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, was also on the "special train", as well as European security advisers, members of the German Bundestag, diplomats and scientists, reports Der Spiegel. It is thought they had been attending the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in the Ukrainian capital.
Everybody was unharmed, and the train continued with its journey after no more drones were detected, reports say.
