An “unprecedented act of sabotage” took place on a Polish railway to Ukraine

A railway in the east of Poland was destroyed in an explosion over the weekend. The country’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has already labelled it as an “unprecedented act of sabotage”.

The explosion happened close to the village of Mika on a railway that is used for transporting military equipment to Ukraine, according to the Polish Government Information Centre. A train driver noticed the damage to the tracks early Sunday morning. Their intercity train ran along the route at 150 kilometres an hour, according to Polish publication Onet. “It’s a miracle the train didn’t derail”, a source from the railway company said.

Local residents reported hearing a loud explosion around 21:00 the previous day. “The explosion was most likely intended to blow up a train”, the Government Information Centre added.

“This is an unprecedented act of sabotage aimed at the security of the Polish state and its citizens. An investigation is ongoing. As in previous cases of this type, we will catch the perpetrators, regardless of who commissioned them,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on the matter. Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki points to Moscow, saying that the sabotage would be “a very significant escalation on the part of the Russian Federation.”

The sabotaging nature of the track damage immediately became clear when considering the torn-out fastening screws and location on a curve and embankment, according to Polish journalist Mariusz Gierszewski.

Possible previous sabotage

It would likely not be the first time that European railways have been the target of sabotage in recent years. Notably, the Dutch railway system was hit by a power outage during the NATO summit in 2025. Before that, arson attacks paralysed the French railways during the Olympic Games of 2024.

European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia was drawing up plans to sabotage rail infrastructure on the continent.