Poland Suspects Russian Sabotage Behind Railway Explosion

"Poland suspects Russian intelligence services were behind an explosion on a major Polish railway line used to transport military goods and aid to Ukraine, an act Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an "unprecedented act of sabotage." In the first comments where a Polish official suggested Moscow was behind the attack over the weekend, Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesperson for Poland's special services minister, said the blast was an attempt "to destabilize" and "spread fear.""

"In a speech to Polish lawmakers after the extraordinary meeting, Tusk said that Poland had identified two people responsible for sabotage on its railway. He added the suspects are Ukrainian nationals who collaborated with Russian intelligence and fled to Belarus. "The most important information is that...we have identified the people responsible for the acts of sabotage," Tusk said in an address to lawmakers in Warsaw."In both cases we are sure that the attempt to blow up the rails and the railway infrastructure violation were intentional and their aim was to cause a railway traffic catastrophe.""

"Tusk added Poland is raising the security alert level in some parts of the country and is developing plans for the military to protect key infrastructure, including railways. The blast on November 17 occurred on a line running from Warsaw to the eastern Polish city of Lublin, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Poland's prosecutors have qualified the sabotage as terrorism saying it could have been carried out at the behest of a foreign power."

An explosion on November 17 damaged a major Polish railway line used to transport military goods and aid to Ukraine. Polish officials suspect Russian intelligence orchestrated the sabotage to destabilize and spread fear. Authorities say two suspects, identified as Ukrainian nationals who collaborated with Russian intelligence, fled to Belarus. Prosecutors have classified the incident as terrorism and consider it possibly directed by a foreign power. The government is raising security alert levels in parts of the country, developing military plans to protect railways and reinforcing patrols over bridges, viaducts, tunnels, stations, and control systems. European nations have long accused Moscow of conducting a hybrid campaign of sabotage.

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