Poland Suspects 2 Ukrainians Working for Russia of Being Involved in Railway Sabotage

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Nov. 18 that two Ukrainians collaborating with Russian intelligence were responsible for the sabotage of a railway line conducted over the weekend.

Tusk told the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, that the identities of the Ukrainian nationals were known, but due to the ongoing investigation, their names would not be released.

Both suspects have fled to Belarus, the prime minister said, according to the Polish Press Agency.

Over the weekend, tracks damaged by an explosion were discovered near Mika along the Warsaw-Lublin line, which connects the capital to southeastern Poland—a route used to transport aid to Ukraine.

In a separate incident confirmed by Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office, power lines over another segment of the same line, further south at Pulawy, were also damaged.

Tusk said these incidents “were intentional” and that the aim of the perpetrators “was to cause a railway disaster.”

“The individuals identified are two Ukrainian citizens who have been operating and cooperating with Russian intelligence services for a long time. This is the finding of our services and the prosecutor’s office, and is also a result of cooperation with our allied services,” Tusk said.

‘Sabotage of a Terrorist Nature’

Tusk informed lawmakers that in one of the attacks, perpetrators used a military-grade explosive device made from C4 plastic explosive, which was detonated remotely via a wired system from a distance of approximately 300 yards.

“A certain amount of explosive material, which did not detonate, was also recovered at the scene,” the prime minister said.

On Nov. 17, Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it had opened an investigation “into acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature directed against railway infrastructure and committed for the benefit of foreign intelligence.”

“These actions created an imminent threat of a land transport disaster, threatening the lives and health of many people and significant property damage,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Earlier on Nov. 18, Jacek Dobrzynski, the spokesman for Poland’s special services minister, said “everything indicates” that Russian intelligence services had commissioned the acts of sabotage.

Dobrzynski told reporters that authorities were “securing evidence, gathering information, and verifying the information they’ve gathered so far.”

On Nov. 18, the Kremlin said it was not surprised that Poland had accused Russia of involvement in the incident.

“It would be quite strange if Russia weren’t blamed first,” presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said, according to state-run Russian news agency TASS.

“Russia is being accused of all manifestations of the hybrid and direct warfare that is taking place. In Poland, let’s say, everyone is trying to get ahead of the European locomotive in this regard, and Russophobia is, of course, in full bloom there.”

Reuters contributed to this report.