Close call for ex-CIA head, ex-UK PM Johnson as Russia strikes Ukraine near Polish border

Emergency personnel at a site following a Russian drone strike near the Ukrainian-Polish border on Sept 13.

KYIV/MOSCOW - David Petraeus, the former CIA director, could hear the Russian drones above his train, which had just passed through Ukrainian customs on its way to Poland on the morning of Sept 13. He and other passengers were quickly evacuated. Not long after, he heard a huge explosion.

A former US Army general, Petraeus is used to explosions, but he said: “For those who have not been under fire, this was terrifying.” A jet-powered Russian drone, identified by photos taken afterwards, had detonated after striking the locomotive of the train next to his, he said.

“This is the act of a truly barbaric leader trying to terrorize Ukrainian civilians,” he said in a telephone interview on Sept 13.

Russian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The attack at the Yahodyn station, near the Polish border, happened shortly after another train had departed carrying Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, along with European politicians and diplomats, the Ukrainian state railway said in a statement. It said the drone might have been intended to hit Johnson’s train, which had left earlier than scheduled.

If the strike was in fact targeting senior current and former American, British and European officials, it would represent a significant Russian escalation.

Petraeus and the European officials were leaving Ukraine after attending a security conference known as the YES forum in the capital, Kyiv. The officials were traveling on a dedicated diplomatic train, and by Sept 13 morning they had reached the Yahodyn station.

The train carrying Johnson and national security advisers from several European Union and NATO member states crossed the border shortly before the strike.

Petraeus, a supporter of Ukraine in its war with Russia, was on his 11th visit there since the war began. He said that he had been traveling separately from Johnson on a regular civilian train – and that the one hit was not a military target either.

“There was no military justification for what Russia did in this case,” he said, adding that a drone also hit a gas station in the area.

In its statement, the Ukrainian railway said: “It’s entirely possible that the target of this Russian drone could have been the diplomatic train, which departed the station earlier than its scheduled time as part of real-time adjustments to train schedules due to the constant threat of Russian strikes.”

The strike came as Russia has been scaling up its attacks on Ukrainian railway infrastructure. On the same day as the drone hit at the Yahodyn station, railway property in central Ukraine was also targeted. Earlier this month, two other border crossings, with Moldova and Romania, were also hit, signaling a new campaign to disrupt Ukrainian logistics.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Sept 13 that Moscow’s goal was to “cripple the economy and destroy people’s lives”.

Petraeus eventually reboarded his train and travelled safely into Poland. He said he was not aware of any casualties from the strike. He also said he did not believe attacks like this would defeat Ukraine in its long fight with its much larger neighbour.

“This is just part of a campaign to exhaust the Ukrainian population, which is not going to work,” he said. “They are truly unbreakable. They are tired. But they are unbreakable.” NYTIMES

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.