Polish authorities are investigating a series of incidents on a railway line used to transport humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. According to The Times, officials in Warsaw are increasingly convinced that Moscow was behind the attack, viewing the incident as part of a broader hybrid war against countries supporting Kyiv.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the explosion that occurred over the weekend on a section of track between Warsaw and Lublin “an unprecedented act of sabotage directed against the security of the Polish state and its citizens.” The blast damaged a route regularly used to deliver supplies to Ukraine. Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesperson for the Internal Security Agency (ABW), stressed: “Everything points to Russia’s involvement. Russian intelligence is trying to destabilize Poland and the European Union, to turn us against Ukraine.” The Kremlin has not yet commented.
How the events unfolded
On Saturday night, residents of the village of Mika, about 60 miles southeast of Warsaw, heard a powerful bang coming from the direction of the railway. On Sunday morning, the driver of a regional train noticed damage to the tracks and was forced to make an emergency stop.
Later that evening, a passenger train carrying 475 people and traveling 19 miles south of Pulawy also made an emergency stop — this time due to damaged power lines. No one was injured, though windows in one of the carriages were shattered.
Poland’s public prosecutor opened a criminal investigation into a “terrorist attack carried out on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.” At the scene, investigators discovered a metal plate that had been deliberately bolted to the tracks and a smartphone connected to a wire nearby. Prosecutors stated that these actions posed a direct threat of a major transport disaster and endangered the lives of a large number of people.
A firm response from the government
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek stated that the perpetrators would face punishment up to life imprisonment. “The prosecutor’s office will act decisively and ruthlessly. No one who commits sabotage against the Polish state will escape responsibility,” he said.
Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak emphasized that this was not an act of petty crime. “We are dealing with the intelligence services of a foreign state, not a gang of scrap-metal thieves,” he wrote.
An emergency meeting of the National Security Committee, with senior military officials and presidential representative Karol Nawrocki, was scheduled for Tuesday. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz ordered increased patrols along eastern railway lines, with special attention to bridges, tunnels, and other critical infrastructure. Drones are being used for monitoring, and a helicopter will be added to the effort starting Tuesday.
Part of a broader campaign?
According to The Times, the incident fits into a pattern of similar events that European intelligence services associate with Russian efforts to destabilize countries supporting Ukraine. Across Europe, authorities have reported attempts to recruit individuals via Telegram for arson attacks, infrastructure sabotage, and the sending of explosive parcels.
Last autumn, Polish authorities announced the arrest of 55 people suspected of planning acts of sabotage. Among them were two Ukrainian nationals in Katowice, charged with espionage. A Belarusian who had posed as a political refugee was also detained; investigators believe he was a Russian operative involved in setting fire to a major shopping center near Warsaw.
Neighboring countries report similar cases. In September, Lithuanian authorities arrested a network of 15 individuals — citizens of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Ukraine — accused of sending four explosive parcels to the UK, Germany, and Poland via the courier companies DPD and DHL. One of the parcels exploded at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham.
Implications for regional security
Warsaw views the sabotage on the Warsaw–Lublin line as an attempt by Moscow to disrupt the flow of aid to Ukraine and intimidate Polish authorities. Government agencies are strengthening security measures around transportation infrastructure, and officials promise a forceful response.
According to The Times, the attack on Poland’s railway system is part of a broader strategy of hybrid operations through which Russia aims to test the resilience of European security, damage critical infrastructure, and erode support for Ukraine.
This article was prepared based on materials published by The Times. The author does not claim authorship of the original text but presents their interpretation of the content for informational purposes.
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