Train carrying Estonian leaders crossed Ukraine border just before Russian drone strike

Estonian politicians and leaders were traveling by train through western Ukraine shortly before a Russian drone struck a station near the Polish border, Delfi reported .

The strike hit a station at Yahodyn on Ukrainian territory, around two kilometers from the Polish border, shortly after a diplomatic train carrying high-level figures passed along the same line.

Ukraine says the diplomatic train may have been the intended target. No one was injured.

According to Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine's state rail operator, the "YES Express" crossed the border about an hour and a half before its shunting locomotive at Yahodyn was hit. "We cannot confirm the exact target of the attack, but no one was injured," the company said.

The political figures and former leaders had been travelling back from Kyiv, where they had attended the annual YES (Yalta European Strategy) forum.

Former President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid was among those travelling from Ukraine to Poland by train. She told "Ukraina stuudio" that her train was stopped and passengers were temporarily evacuated. Other leading Estonian figures on the same train included former economy and information technology minister Tiit Riisalo and Taavi Linnamäe, who had headed up Kaljulaid's office and foundation.

Delfi reported that Reform party MPs Mati Raidma, Marko Mihkelson and Eerik-Niiles Kross were also on the train, along with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Mariin Ratnik and Kristi Raik, director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute. Former Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin was reportedly on board as well.

The BBC reported that former British Prime Minsiter Boris Johnson, former CIA chief David Petraeus and senior European security officials had passed through the same line. The strike, just two kilometers from Polish territory, prompted an emergency meeting in Poland and renewed calls for more air defenses and sanctions.

It follows a Russian escalation of attacks on Ukraine's rail network, and a pattern of suspected Russian sabotage across Europe — including the fire at an Estonian defense firm's plant.

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Editor:
Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov