13/09/2026
Boris Johnson's train evacuated in Ukraine after Russian drone strike near Polish border
**The former prime minister was travelling back towards Poland after a Kyiv security conference when his train stopped amid a drone alert — shortly after a separate passenger service nearby was struck.**
Boris Johnson was reportedly among passengers evacuated from a special train in Ukraine after a Russian drone strike hit a separate passenger service nearby, close to the border with Poland. The former prime minister was travelling back towards Poland after attending a major security conference in Kyiv when his train stopped at around 5am amid a drone alert. According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, passengers in part of the train were woken by conductors and briefly evacuated before an all-clear was given. Mr Johnson is understood to have been unharmed.
# # Drone alert halts train near the border
The train Mr Johnson was travelling on was privately chartered, and there was no indication it had itself been struck. Conductors woke passengers in part of the carriage and moved them off the train as a precaution after drones were detected near the railway line, Der Spiegel reported. The all-clear followed shortly afterwards once no further drones were picked up in the area.
# # Nearby passenger train struck, no injuries reported
The alert came after a separate train on the Kyiv-Warsaw route was hit by a Russian drone near the Polish border. Ukrainian railway authorities said the locomotive was struck but that nobody on board was injured, despite the train carrying 206 passengers, some of whom were seen running from the scene in fear. Ukrainian railway officials said the strike landed just two kilometres from the Polish border, fuelling concern about Russian attacks reaching ever closer to NATO territory.
# # Delegates returning from a Kyiv security conference
Mr Johnson's train was also carrying Günter Sautter, one of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's closest foreign and security-policy advisers, along with security advisers from Britain, France and Italy, German MPs, diplomats and academics. The group had been in Kyiv for the 2026 annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy conference, at which Western officials held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government about the prospects for peace negotiations with Russia.
# # Border crossing also hit
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said a Russian drone had separately struck the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing, one of Ukraine's most important border links with the European Union. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show trucks on fire at the crossing, and Ukrainian media reported that a petrol station had also been hit. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and the Polish military confirmed that the attack had taken place.
# # Part of a wider pattern of strikes on Ukraine's railways
Ukrainian Railways, the state-owned operator, has accused Moscow of carrying out systematic drone attacks on the country's rail network. The company said its monitoring centre and staff were on "high alert" following nationwide attacks, and warned passengers to expect possible evacuations, delays and diversions.
Robin Wagener, a Green Party member of the German Bundestag who was also travelling on the special train, described the strike as a dangerous escalation, telling Der Spiegel that Russia was "playing with fire right on the border of the European Union and NATO." He said he believed the attacks amounted to an act of intimidation aimed at civilians, and were also intended as a warning to countries supporting Ukraine, calling for a firmer international response.
The incident came as Russia launched a broader wave of strikes across Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian authorities reporting hundreds of drones deployed. The Kyiv-Warsaw line is regularly used by foreign dignitaries travelling between Ukraine and Poland, making the attack particularly sensitive at a time when European governments are stepping up their support for Kyiv. The strikes near the Polish frontier have also raised concern in Warsaw, with Polish authorities activating defensive measures in response to the latest attacks.
