Poland says 2 Ukrainians tied to Russian intel likely behind railway sabotage
A railway track between Warsaw and Lublin was blown up in an "unprecedented act of sabotage," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Nov. 17.
The Polish prime minister said the route is "crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine."
Local police said a train driver reported damage on the railway line on Nov. 16. The explosion occurred near the village of Mika, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the Polish-Ukrainian border.
Tusk said the explosion was likely intended to blow up a train.
Polish security service spokesperson Jacek Dobrzynski said on Nov. 18 that "everything indicates" Russian intelligence services were likely behind the sabotage incident.
"Russian services want to disrupt our society, to scare us," Dobrzynski added.
Speaking to the Polish parliament, Tusk said investigators identified two Ukrainian citizens as suspects, alleging they worked with Russian intelligence services.
According to Tusk, both crossed into Belarus shortly after the explosion.
The prime minister noted that one suspect had been convicted in Lviv in May for sabotage in Ukraine, while the other hails from the country's eastern Donbas region.
"These acts of sabotage and the actions of Russian services across the whole of Europe, not only in Poland, are unfortunately gaining momentum. We are dealing with an escalation," he said.
"This is particularly dangerous in countries like Poland, where we have enough burdens that we bear due to over a million Ukrainian refugees in Poland."
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry noted that Moscow deliberately recruits holders of Ukrainian passports to carry out hybrid operations, sabotage, and other crimes aimed at sowing instability.
"Russia is trying to shift responsibility for its own crimes onto Ukrainians," the ministry said. "We are confident that Ukraine's partners clearly understand that the source of such sabotage is Russia."
Warsaw will demand the detention and extradition of the suspects.
"We will address this both with the authorities of Belarus and Russia, but we will also take additional steps that, I hope, will lead to the swift capture of the perpetrators," Tusk added.
Russia has a history of recruiting Ukrainians for sabotage operations in Poland, seeking to exploit vulnerable individuals to target critical infrastructure and undermine security.
Warsaw has been raising alarm over the mounting cases of sabotage and espionage activities targeting Poland in recent years, with numerous incidents linked to Russian or Belarusian intelligence services.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha affirmed Kyiv's "solidarity with friendly Poland following an act of sabotage" and said Ukraine is ready to assist.
Poland has said Russia has intensified hybrid operations against the country due to the Polish support for Ukraine amid the all-out war.
Sharing a 535-kilometer (332-mile) border with Ukraine, Poland has served as a key hub for delivering allied military assistance to Kyiv.
In early September, Polish and allied forces shot down several Russian drones that violated Poland's airspace amid an air strike on Ukraine, marking the first such engagement by NATO during the full-scale war.
