After two acts of sabotage targeting Poland’s rail network, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski didn’t mince words about the situation.
“That wasn’t like prior acts of sabotage — it was state terrorism — because its clear aim was human casualties,” said Sikorski in Poland’s parliament on Wednesday.
Poland’s Interior Ministry has reported that several people possibly involved in the attacks have been arrested and await questioning.
“A foreign nation sent well-prepared saboteurs who failed in their mission only through some miracle,” Sikorski added. He then accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence service of recruiting mercenaries to “do the dirty work.” Shortly thereafter, Moscow informed Poland’s government that they would shutter the Russian consulate in Gdansk, the last remaining Russian consulate in Poland.
Tusk: ‘Worst attack since start of war in Ukraine’
On Sunday, an engineer alerted management at Poland’s state rail provider PKP after he was forced to stop his train due to heavy damage on a stretch of track between Warsaw and Lublin. Shortly thereafter, heavy damage was also reported on the strategically important line that runs from Warsaw to the Ukraine border.
Since Wednesday, all rail lines have been operating at the country’s second-highest security level. Rules call for 24-hour security along all of the nation’s most important rail infrastructure, as well as arming security personnel with live ammunition. Heightened security is expected to remain in place until February 2026.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called the incident “probably the worst attack on state security since the outbreak of war in Ukraine,” emphasizing that “a line has been crossed.”
Two Ukrainians recruited by Russia
Polish security forces were able to identify two suspects said to be responsible for both attacks within 70 hours following the incidents. Both are Ukrainian citizens with long histories of collaborating with Russian intelligence. Both are known to Ukrainian and Polish authorities.
One of the men was convicted of sabotage this May in a Lviv court, the other is from Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Both are thought to have entered Poland this fall from Belarus. Tusk said the saboteurs fled over the Terespol border crossing back into Belarus after the attack.
On Tuesday, the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported that authorities had found fingerprints as well as a cellphone with a SIM card and a charger that was left by one of the suspected perpetrators to film the explosion. It was also reported that Polish authorities received assistance from allied nations.
Investigators have found that three explosives were placed in the first incident near the city of Mika. Two of them exploded late Saturday. The explosive charge, however, was too weak to blow up the freight train the attacker was likely targeting. The train’s driver was unaware of the initial explosion, but the tracks became more unstable with every subsequent train that passed over them until the level of damage became dangerously clear on Sunday.
In the second incident, near Pulawy, the attacker used a steel clamp in a futile attempt to derail the targeted train. The situation forced the passenger train’s driver to brake sharply, but no injuries or damage were reported.
Poland becoming a target for attackers
Poland has been repeatedly targeted with sabotage attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Polish government stood behind Kyiv from the start, sending weapons and providing humanitarian aid. More than one million Ukrainian refugees have found shelter in neighboring Poland.
Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Tusk recalled that a paint factory in Wroclaw was set ablaze by arsonists in January 2024. In Warsaw, he said, a trade center was similarly attacked. In all, some 55 people have been arrested on suspicion of arson, and 23 remain in custody. Recently, another eight people were arrested on suspicion of spying on strategic installations.
Online incitement against Ukraine
After news of the suspects’ identity became public, a wave of anti-Ukraine incitement swelled on social media. Polish deputy parliamentary leader Piotr Zgorzelski sees Russia at work here, too. “That is a perfidious game played by Russia’s intelligence agencies, which steer the online campaigns,” Zgorzelski told Poland’s TVN television.
Tusk has also warned of Russian disinformation. Russian leadership, he says, is not only interested in the direct effect of such attacks, but also seeks to exploit the social and political aftershock. “That means: disorganization, chaos, panic, speculation, uncertainty.”
Recruiting Ukrainians to carry out acts of sabotage is likely designed to stir up anti-Ukraine sentiment, as polls show acceptance of Ukraine support waning slightly of late.
Sikorski said he will request the suspects’ extradition from Belarus, though chances of success would seem slim. At the same time, he said that Poland would not break off diplomatic ties with Russia. Nevertheless, he said Russian diplomats traveling beyond Warsaw will have to attain permission from Polish authorities. Moreover, Sikorski advised Poland’s allies not to allow Russian diplomats to travel freely within the Schengen Area.
The Kremlin denied all allegations. “Russia is blamed for everything that has the outward appearance of hybrid and straightforward war,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Russian state television.
“Therefore,” he said, “it would be unusual if that were not the case now,” adding that Poland was always at the front of the pack when it came to pointing fingers at Russia.
“In this sense, Russophobia is in full bloom there,” said Peskov.
This article was originally written in German and translated by Jon Shelton.
