Boris Johnson was aboard a privately chartered train that was temporarily evacuated after a Russian drone alert near the Ukrainian border with Poland, according to reports.
The former prime minister was travelling back towards Poland after attending a security conference in Kyiv when the train stopped at about 5am. Conductors woke passengers in part of the train and led them to safety as drones were detected near the railway line.
Mr Johnson was not injured and an all-clear was issued shortly afterwards when no further drones were detected. There was no indication that the train carrying him had been struck.
Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, was also travelling on the train. He said the train immediately behind them was hit by a Russian drone close to the Polish border crossing.
“This wasn’t our train [that was hit], but the one just minutes after us by the [Polish] border crossing,” Mr Bildt said.
“It was evacuated as the [Russian] drone approached and no one was hurt.”
The train carrying Mr Johnson was transporting a group of senior officials and advisers, including Günter Sautter, a foreign and security-policy adviser to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Security advisers from Britain, France and Italy, German MPs, diplomats and academics were also on board.
The passengers had been in Kyiv for the 2026 annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy, where Western officials discussed possible peace negotiations with the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A separate passenger train travelling on the Kyiv-Warsaw route was also hit near the Yahodyn crossing. Ukrainian railway authorities said its locomotive was damaged but none of the 206 people on board was injured.
Passengers were seen running from the train after the attack, while Ukrainian Railways warned that further strikes could lead to evacuations, delays and diversions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said a Russian drone had also struck the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing, one of Ukraine’s main links with the European Union. Footage appearing to show lorries on fire was circulated on social media, while Ukrainian media reported that a petrol station had been hit.
There were no immediate reports of casualties at the crossing, and the Polish military confirmed the attack. The strike was reported to have taken place about two kilometres from the Polish border, raising concern over attacks taking place increasingly close to NATO territory.
Robin Wagener, a Green Party member of the German Bundestag who was on the special train, described the incident as a dangerous escalation.
“These drone attacks are blind terror against Ukrainian civilians and a dangerous escalation in Putin’s war,” Mr Wagener said.
He added that he believed the strikes were also intended as a warning to countries supporting Ukraine, saying Russia was “playing with fire right on the border of the European Union and NATO”.
The incidents came during a major wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine, with Ukrainian authorities reporting hundreds of drones being used overnight. The rail route is regularly used by foreign dignitaries travelling between Ukraine and Poland.
