Ilayda Cakirtekin
18 November 2025•Update: 19 November 2025
ISTANBUL
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk alleged Tuesday that Ukrainians collaborated with Russian intelligence behind the suspected sabotage on the Warsaw-Lublin intercity rail line near the village of Mika.
Tusk told lawmakers that they have identified two Ukrainians responsible for sabotage on the railway, stressing that they collaborated with Russian intelligence and fled to Belarus, according to broadcaster TVP World.
He noted that the suspects had been collaborating with Russian intelligence for a long time and one was convicted by a Ukrainian court in May for sabotage.
"We are dealing with an unprecedented event. This is perhaps the most serious situation, in the context of Poland's security, since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine,” said Tusk.
He explained that the two acts of sabotage occurred separately. The first involved a steel clamp placed on the tracks, while the second used a "military-grade C4 explosive device," detonated via an initiating device connected to a 300-meter (984-foot) electrical cable.
“In both cases, we are certain that these were intentional actions and their aim was to cause a railway disaster,” Tusk added.
Polish ministers said late Monday that they have gathered substantial evidence to identify those behind the suspected sabotage.
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski, joined by the justice and infrastructure ministers, said at a joint news conference that “a great deal of evidence,” including CCTV footage and other materials, “will certainly allow for the perpetrators of this heinous act of sabotage to be identified very quickly.”
Kierwinski said an explosive device was “beyond any doubt” detonated, damaging the railway track near Mika. He added that a metal clamp was found on the line, though its link to the Pulawy stoppage remains unclear, and noted that a 60-meter (197-foot) section of power lines was also damaged.
Special services coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak said the incidents were likely commissioned by foreign actors.
Tusk also said Monday that the overnight damage on the Warsaw–Lublin line was an act of sabotage.
"Unfortunately, the worst suspicions have been confirmed. An act of sabotage occurred on the Warsaw-Lublin line (village of Mika). An explosive device detonated and destroyed the railway track. Services and the prosecutor's office are working on the scene," he wrote on US social media company X.
Tusk said another incident on the same line, near Pulawy, southeast of Warsaw, may also have been sabotage. Security services are examining whether the incidents fit into a broader pattern of hostile activity targeting Polish infrastructure.
Early Sunday, a train driver reported “irregularities” on the Deblin–Warsaw route near the village of Zyczyn, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital, police in Radom said. Initial checks revealed deliberate damage to a section of track, prompting an immediate suspension of traffic.
The investigation comes amid heightened tension in Poland after a series of suspected Russian-directed sabotage attempts across NATO territory. Polish authorities have recently arrested several individuals accused of attempting arson or damaging railway systems used to transport Western military equipment to Ukraine.
