Russian drones strike passenger train and fuel site near Polish border after diplomatic transit

Strikes at the border

Russian drones struck multiple targets within two kilometres of the Ukrainian border with Poland on Sunday, 13 September 2026. One strike directly hit the locomotive of a passenger train travelling from Kyiv to Warsaw in the Volyn region of north-western Ukraine. The Polish prime minister noted that one strike occurred 800 metres from the border, while Polish rail and government officials placed the locomotive hit at two kilometres from the frontier. Another Russian drone landed near the Dorohusk-Yahodyn border crossing, according to Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński. In the border town of Yahodyn, a third strike hit a commercial refuelling site. Karolina Gałecka, spokesperson for the Polish Ministry of the Interior, detailed the damage at the fuel station.

The unmanned aircraft struck a gas station in the town of Yahodyn, 2 km from the Polish border.

Western dignitaries near the impact site

Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia reported that a diplomatic train had been stationed at Yahodyn shortly before the attack. The train carried former British prime minister Boris Johnson along with security advisers representing several European Union member states. Former Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus was aboard another train inside Yahodyn station at the exact time of the attack. Ukrzaliznytsia reported that the diplomatic train departed earlier than planned following early warning detections.

It is entirely possible that the target of the Russian drone was also the diplomatic train.

Evacuation and infrastructure damage

A rail coordinator spotted the incoming jet-powered drone, prompting an emergency evacuation order 15 minutes before impact. All 206 passengers on board the Kyiv-Warsaw train escaped to the station platforms before the drone struck the engine, leaving no passengers injured. Polish railway operator PKP Intercity stated that the passenger train was expected to resume travel toward Warsaw with a delay exceeding six hours. At the nearby fuel station in Yahodyn, the impact set two transport trucks on fire. Russian strikes also hit railway facilities in the Vinnytsia region of central-western Ukraine and killed at least two people in Kramatorsk in the eastern part of the country.

Diplomatic reactions and military claims

Ukrzaliznytsia described the strikes as a systemic attack on the railway system, placing monitoring centres and rail workers on high alert across the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strike near the Polish border as deliberate. The Russian Ministry of Defence acknowledged conducting strikes against rail infrastructure in western Ukraine, asserting that the lines were used to transport European military cargo. During a visit to Kyiv on Sunday, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski condemned the strikes alongside his Ukrainian counterpart.

Russian terror is not just knocking at the door, it is inside the house.

The Ukrainian foreign minister called on international allies to impose stricter sanctions and expand military support. The rail corridor between Kyiv and Poland serves as the primary ground route for foreign officials entering Ukraine, having previously carried French President Emmanuel Macron in May 2025, as well as Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the week prior to the attack. Poland officially condemned the strike as an act of terrorism on Sunday evening.