Two Ukrainian nationals, operating in collaboration with Russian services, have been identified as suspects in an act of sabotage on the crucial railway line 7 (Warsaw-Lublin), said Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the Sejm (Polish Parliament).

The head of government, delivering a statement on the incident involving critical infrastructure, emphatically stated that these events were of an „intentional nature” and their primary „objective was to cause a catastrophe in railway traffic.”

„The identified individuals are two Ukrainian nationals who have been operating and cooperating with Russian services for a considerable time,” Tusk conveyed, emphasising that these findings are the result of work by Polish services and the prosecutor’s office, as well as cooperation with allied intelligence agencies.

Despite identifying the suspects, the Prime Minister stipulated that he could not disclose their names due to ongoing security operations. However, he revealed specific background details of the individuals involved in the plot:

One of the suspects is a Ukrainian national who was previously convicted by a court in Lviv in May this year for acts of sabotage. The second one is known to Polish security services as a resident of the Ukrainian Donbas region.

Both suspects „crossed from Belarus into Poland together with the first suspect in the autumn of this year,” the Prime Minister added, outlining the route taken by the individuals responsible for the attempted attack on Polish infrastructure.

Prime Minister Tusk confirmed that a military-grade C4 explosive was successfully detonated during the passage of a freight train.

Saboteurs first mounted a steel clamp onto the tracks, which was intended to cause the train to come off the rails. This initial act was apparently meant to be recorded, as a mobile phone and power bank were secured near the track to film the expected catastrophe; however, the Prime Minister confirmed that this effort „fortunately proved completely ineffective,” with the train passing safely. 

The second, more serious act of sabotage occurred shortly after, at 20:58 on November 15, and was captured by a monitoring camera. 

Tusk stated, „A military-type C4 explosive charge was detonated using an initiating device connected by a 300-metre electrical cable,” telling MPs that the explosion occurred as the train passed over the site. 

Crucially, he added: „The explosion did not lead to a derailment, causing only minor damage to the floor of one wagon.” 

In a final statement, the head of government noted the resilience of the train’s operator: „The train driver did not even register the incident while passing through the location.” Authorities also secured a quantity of undetonated explosive material at the scene.

Photo: X @p_brzyski

Tomasz Modrzejewski