David Petraeus knows the sound of an explosion very well. As a US general, he commanded coalition forces in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, where he succeeded in stabilising the situation. He later became commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. After leaving the military, then-president Barack Obama chose him to head the CIA intelligence service.

Petraeus is a strong supporter of Ukraine; he has visited the country 11 times since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

On Sunday morning, he was on a train at the station in the village of Yahodyn, near the Polish border, when Russia attacked with jet-powered Geran drones.

As he told the New York Times, the train he was on was evacuated. Shortly afterwards, he heard an explosion.

“For those who had never been under fire, it was frightening,” he said.

The Russian drone ultimately did not hit the train on which the former CIA chief was returning to Poland, but another passenger train. It destroyed the locomotive, but passengers had been evacuated from the train around 15 minutes earlier, so nobody was harmed.

In any case, Sunday’s attack points to three areas in which Russia is escalating: the railway line was targeted around the time prominent Western representatives were passing through the station, the attack took place only two kilometres from the Polish border, and it confirmed this year’s rise in attacks on passenger trains.

Did Russia try to attack Western diplomats?

Shortly before the strike, a special diplomatic train carrying several prominent Western representatives passed through the station in Yahodyn. They included former British prime minister Boris Johnson, an adviser to the German chancellor, a member of the German parliament and former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt.

This wasn’t our train, but the one just minutes after us by the 🇵🇱 border crossing. It was evacuated as the 🇷🇺 drone approached and no one was hurt. Very good safety system. Our train just had an evacuation warning but could proceed to Dorohusk. The 🇷🇺 attacks against 🇺🇦 are…
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) September 13, 2026

The question is whether it was a coincidence that Russia attacked the station at the very time Western diplomats were passing through, or whether it had instead targeted their train. Ukrainian Railways considers the latter a possibility. According to the company, the diplomatic train left the station earlier than originally scheduled.

“It is quite likely that this Russian drone may also have been targeting the diplomatic train, which departed the station earlier than planned as part of ongoing adjustments to train timetables due to the constant threat of Russian attacks. Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) continually adjusts train schedules depending on which tracks are available and which have been blocked as a result of attacks,” it said.

According to TASS, Russia’s defence ministry said its drones had “targeted railway infrastructure facilities in western Ukraine used to transport military equipment from European countries”.

The fact is that weapons are to a large extent transported by rail from Poland to Ukraine. On the other hand, a Russian drone struck the locomotive of a passenger train carrying civilians.

There is no evidence that Russia intended to hit the diplomatic train, but it may not have been a coincidence that it attacked as diplomats were returning from Kyiv. Most of them had attended the Yalta European Strategy conference. The conference has been held since 2004.

Many of its participants rank among Ukraine’s strongest supporters in the West. Johnson, Britain’s prime minister until 2023, is a typical example.

He has long argued that the West must provide Ukraine with far greater assistance. In the spring, he even visited the Zaporizhzhia region, around 10 to 15 km from the front line.

“I do not know what warped logic led Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive at the Polish border this morning,” Johnson commented on X on Sunday.

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