"Polish authorities quickly confirmed sabotage, three Ukrainian nationals - Oleksandr K., Yevhenii I., and Volodymyr B. - with executing the plot under Russian direction. The incident was not a lone act but part of a growing wave of covert operations targeting railways, ports, and pipelines across Europe, aimed at undermining support for Kyiv. Ivana Stradner, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, characterizes these actions to The Cipher Brief as Russia "waging a long, low-cost pressure campaign that targets not only the battlefield but everyday life across EU countries.""
"Polish prosecutors outlined the operation's chilling precision. In September 2025, Volodymyr B., arrested on November 20 and charged on November 22, drove Yevhenii I. to the sabotage site for reconnaissance, enabling the selection of the explosive placement. Oleksandr K. and Yevhenii I., the primary perpetrators acting on behalf of Russian intelligence, planted the device and a metal clamp intended to derail a train, then to Belarus, where Poland's extradition requests remain pending."
"Immediately following the attack, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski characterized it as "state terror." Warsaw closed Russia's last consulate in Gdansk, and thousands of soldiers were deployed nationwide to protect critical infrastructure. The Kremlin, nonetheless, rebuffed the accusations as "Russophobia" and vowed to retaliate by severing Polish diplomatic ties. This exchange of moves points, however, to a larger trend: the use of subtle, sophisticated attacks aimed at crippling Ukraine's supply lines without triggering a full-blown escalation."
Polish authorities confirmed a sabotage operation carried out by three Ukrainian nationals under Russian direction targeting rail infrastructure. The sabotage formed part of an expanding pattern of covert operations across Europe that focused on railways, ports, and pipelines to weaken backing for Kyiv. Prosecutors described detailed reconnaissance in September 2025, the placement of an explosive device and a metal clamp intended to derail a train, and the suspects’ flight to Belarus where extradition remains unresolved. Warsaw labeled the incident state terror, closed a consulate, deployed soldiers, and Moscow denied the accusations as Russophobia.
Read at The Cipher Brief
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