By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a group of senior European officials were caught up in a tense security scare on Sunday after a Russian drone struck a passenger-train locomotive near Ukraine’s border with Poland, underscoring the growing danger of Moscow’s attacks on infrastructure close to NATO territory.
The incident occurred in Ukraine’s Volyn region, about two kilometres from the Polish border, when a Russian drone hit the locomotive of a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger service.
No injuries were reported, but passengers were evacuated or temporarily ordered to leave the train as Ukrainian authorities responded to the drone threat.
Johnson, however, was travelling on a separate train ahead of the one that was struck. He and other prominent Western figures had been returning from the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kyiv, which brought together political leaders, diplomats and security officials from Ukraine and its international partners.
The 2026 YES meeting, held on September 11-12 under the theme “Peace Through Strength NOW!”, attracted about 700 participants from 28 countries. Among those attending were Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Johnson, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s security adviser Günter Sautter, UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and senior officials from France, Italy and other European countries.
Johnson later described the Russian strike as a “random and senseless attack”, arguing that the incident illustrated the danger faced by Ukrainian civilians and railway workers on a daily basis.
He also used the episode to renew his call for Western governments to provide Ukraine with stronger air-defence capabilities and make greater use of frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv.
Johnson said more than €140 billion was held in a Belgian bank account and around £10 billion in London, arguing that Britain should take the lead in finding ways to deploy frozen Russian money in support of Ukraine.
His comments came as Russia launched another large-scale wave of attacks across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia had launched 453 drones during the overnight assault, while Ukrainian authorities said the attacks targeted infrastructure in several parts of the country.
The railway strike was particularly significant because the Kyiv-Warsaw route is a vital link between Ukraine and Poland and is regularly used by diplomats, foreign officials, aid workers and other international visitors.
The attack also came amid growing concern in Poland about Russian military activity close to its territory.
Polish authorities scrambled aircraft and activated security measures following the overnight attacks, highlighting the heightened sensitivity surrounding Russian strikes close to the NATO frontier.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the incident as Russian terror reaching “the doors of the EU and NATO,” while Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of deliberately targeting infrastructure that connects Ukraine with its European neighbours.
There was initially some confusion over whether Johnson’s train itself had been directly targeted.
Reports circulated that the former British leader and other senior officials were aboard the train struck by the drone. Later accounts indicated that Johnson and several other dignitaries were on a separate train that had passed through the area shortly before the attack, while the passenger service behind them was hit.
