Tue Nov 18 15:22:58 UTC 2025: ## Ukrainian Nationals Suspected in Polish Railway Sabotage Fled to Belarus, Says Prime Minister
WARSAW, Poland – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused two Ukrainian citizens, allegedly working for Russian intelligence, of sabotaging a railway line near Warsaw over the weekend. The attack, which damaged tracks on the Warsaw-Lublin line connecting the capital to the Ukrainian border, is believed to have been intended to derail a train.
Tusk told parliament on Tuesday that the suspects, whose identities are being withheld pending further investigation, are believed to have crossed into Poland from Belarus this autumn and subsequently fled back to Belarus after the incident. He stated that the pair “have been operating and cooperating with Russian services for a long time,” citing information from prosecutors and investigating authorities.
In a separate incident under investigation, power lines were destroyed near Pulawy, forcing passenger trains to halt. Polish prosecutors are investigating both events as “acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature” committed on behalf of foreign intelligence, creating “an immediate danger of a land traffic disaster.”
According to Tusk, one of the suspects was previously convicted in Lviv, Ukraine, in May for “acts of sabotage,” while the other is a resident of the Russian-occupied Donbas region.
The incidents are part of a wider trend of arson, sabotage, and cyberattacks in Poland and other European countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Tusk revealed that 55 individuals have been detained, and 23 arrested in Poland in connection with these acts of sabotage.
The Kremlin has responded to Tusk’s allegations by accusing Polish authorities of “Russophobia.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media that Russia is being blamed for “all manifestations of the hybrid and direct war that is taking place,” and that “Russophobia, of course, is flourishing there” in Poland.
The damaged railway infrastructure has been repaired, and no injuries were reported as a result of the incidents. Tensions between Poland and Russia remain high, with Poland having restricted the movement of Russian diplomats and closed two Russian consulates in recent years.
First Piper 