Boris Johnson Criticizes Putin Over Russian Drone Attack

Boris Johnson criticized Vladimir Putin after a Russian drone targeted the railway line he was traveling on. Johnson, who had just returned from a security conference in Kyiv, was alerted at 5 a.m. on Sunday when a passenger train behind him was forced to evacuate near Yagodyn, close to the Polish border. In a post on X, he wrote, “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.”

The route is frequently used by foreign delegations returning from Kyiv, but Johnson was not evacuated or delayed by the incident. Sources told The Independent that none of the VIP trains carrying European officials were involved. An ordinary passenger train was evacuated, reportedly because a nearby gas station was hit. Another carriage in the sidings was struck but was not moving or part of a running service.

Ukraine’s railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said on Telegram that the drone’s intended target might have been the diplomatic train, which had departed earlier than scheduled after timetables were adjusted in real time due to the threat of Russian strikes. The operator also reported a train in Volyn, just a mile from the Polish border, was hit, but no one was injured.

Johnson continued, “What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day—so far Putin has been responsible for the deaths of 1,700 staff of Ukrzaliznytsia—they and their daily passengers are absolutely heroic.” He called for air defences and for the unfreezing of Putin’s cash, noting that more than €140 billion is held in a Belgian bank account and about £10 billion in London. He added that the Ukrainians will win, citing recent successes in their country, and urged the international community to provide the support they need and deserve.