A Russian drone has struck a train near the Ukraine-Poland border shortly after former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and top European security officials had passed through the same location.
No casualties were reported. The strike hit the train's engine at Yahodyn station, and all passengers had been evacuated before the impact, Ukrainian authorities said. Russia said it struck "railway infrastructure" in western Ukraine.
Johnson and some of Europe's most senior security advisers, including the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, had travelled along the same line on their way back from a conference in Kyiv.
Ukraine's state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said a jet-propelled drone had been detected and an evacuation order had been issued 15 minutes before the strike.
The company confirmed that the train carrying Johnson and others had earlier been at Yahodyn station, and said a decision had been made for it to depart earlier than scheduled.
"Quite possibly, the target of this drone could have been the diplomatic train, which had left the station earlier than expected because of the timetable change... due to constant threats of Russian strikes," Ukrzaliznytsia said.
The railway authority also said former CIA Director David Petraeus had been on board another train at Yahodyn station at the time of the strike.
Polish authorities said the drone struck approximately two kilometres from the Polish border.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who had also attended the Kyiv conference, said passengers on his train had been ordered to prepare for evacuation after the train stopped, before being told they could continue their journey.
"On the train I was on we received order to prepare evacuation after it had stopped. But after a number of minutes we were informed that it was clear and we could proceed," he said.
Johnson responded to the strike, saying: "I don't know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning," and asked: "When are we going to give them the air defences they need?"
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the strike as a "barbaric" act, saying it amounted to "Putin's terror 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and Nato." He renewed calls for further sanctions on Moscow.
"Putin needs to understand that his barbarism will be met with decisive action that increases the cost of war for him to an unacceptable level. This is the only way to stop him," Sybiha said.
