Poland warns of 'real' threat after Russian drones strike Ukraine near its border

Poland is treating Russian drone strikes near its border with Ukraine and the attack on a passenger train with the "utmost seriousness," Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said Sept. 13.

Russia launched drones overnight at western Ukraine, striking a gas station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing and a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Polish border.

Kierwinski confirmed that Russia first struck near the Dorohusk–Yahodyn border crossing and later hit the passenger train near the Polish border.

"We are treating these events with the utmost seriousness," Kierwinski wrote on X. "The situation is being constantly monitored. Russia is an enemy of the free world."

The overnight Russian drone assault brought the war unusually close to Poland's border, with multiple strikes reported in Volyn Oblast, Ukraine's northwest, near the Yahodyn–Dorohusk crossing.

Polish Armed Forces' Operational Command spokesperson Jacek Goryszewski said the threat to Poland was "real" as Russian forces attacked Ukrainian regions overnight.

"Drones were operating and even striking targets located very close to the Polish border — just a few to several dozen kilometers away," he said, according to Polish broadcaster RMF24.

The attacks also stranded Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna and members of an Estonian Foreign Ministry delegation at the border crossing. Tsahkna said they were unable to leave Ukraine because of the Russian drone threat.

"Russia's attacks are becoming more intense and moving ever closer to NATO and the EU. Our response must intensify, too," Tsahkna wrote on X. "Every Russian missile and drone Ukraine stops, every Russian capability we help Ukraine destroy, and every additional cost we impose on Moscow strengthens the security of Ukraine and all of Europe."

The overnight attack damaged a gas station near the Yahodyn–Dorohusk crossing in Volyn Oblast, Ukraine's northwesternmost region. Falling drone debris also sparked fires at the station and several trucks parked nearby, Volyn Customs spokesperson Valentyna Chernysh told Suspilne.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike, warning that the attack brought Russia's war directly to the EU and NATO's doorstep.

"This is (Vladimir) Putin's terror, 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners," Sybiha wrote on social media.

The Yahodyn border crossing itself was not hit and remains operational, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko told RBC-Ukraine.

Demchenko warned that Russian attacks in the area are intensifying and said the crossing could be temporarily closed if the security situation requires it.