After experiencing Russian strike near Polish border, Johnson says this is what Ukrainians endure every day

Johnson had been aboard a diplomatic train that left the Yahodyn station shortly before a Russian drone struck a locomotive there on Sept. 13. Petraeus was aboard another train that was still at the station when the attack occurred.

“I don’t know what warped logic caused Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning,” Johnson wrote on X. “What is certain is that these are exactly the kind of wanton and senseless attacks Ukrainians endure every day — even on their civilian railways.”

Johnson called for more air defense systems for Ukraine and urged Western countries to use frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv, pointing in particular to more than €140 billion held in Belgium and £10 billion in the UK.

Petraeus, meanwhile, described the strike in an interview with The New York Times as “an act of a barbaric leader trying to terrorize the Ukrainian civilian population.”

No one was injured in the strike. Ukrainian Railways said the train crew had been warned of the threat in advance and moved to safety before the locomotive was hit.

The company suggested that the diplomatic train carrying Johnson and European security officials may have been the intended target, although this has not been independently established. The train had already left Yahodyn by the time the drone struck.