Poland accuses two Ukrainians linked to Russian secret services of sabotaging railway lines

BarcelonaPoland has directly accused Russia of the explosion that damaged a railway line this past weekend, which the country's authorities consider an act of sabotage. The spokesman for the Polish Minister of Security Services, Jacek Dobrzynski, asserted that "everything indicates" that Russian intelligence services are behind the incident. "We can now confidently classify it as a terrorist attack, which was initiated by special services from the East," he stated, referring to Moscow. Furthermore, Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported that authorities have identified the main suspects: two Ukrainians who had entered Poland from Belarus and are believed to work for Russian intelligence services. Tusk provided these initial details on Tuesday in the Polish Parliament, where he also explained that one of the suspects had previously been convicted of sabotage in a court in Lviv, Ukraine. The Prime Minister added that both men have returned to Belarus. The attack took place on Saturday night when a wire-activated explosive device detonated, damaging the tracks on the Warsaw-Lublin line. Tusk explained that it was confirmed the perpetrators used military-grade C-4 explosive to trigger the detonation. The explosive exploded under a freight train, which sustained minor damage to its chassis but severely damaged the tracks, posing greater risks to subsequent trains on the route, according to the prime minister. The next train to stop had been informed of the problem and was traveling slowly enough to stop in time. "They were trying to cause a catastrophe," Tusk stated. Furthermore, on Sunday morning, a hole was discovered that had deflected the rails at another point on the line, and several damages affecting the electrical power supply system were also discovered along a 60-meter stretch, where tools allegedly used by the perpetrators of the sabotage were also found. Tusk yesterday described the explosion as an "unprecedented act of sabotage" and an attack "on the security of the Polish state and its citizens." The route covered by the tracks where the explosion occurred was used to transport weapons to Kyiv, the leader explained after visiting the site of the incident, near the town of Mika, about 100 kilometers from Warsaw. This Tuesday morning, the Polish government held an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Committee, with the participation of military commanders, heads of services, and a representative of the president to discuss the alleged attack. Tusk explained that in response to the incident, Poland will raise the alert level to three out of four for certain parts of the railway infrastructure throughout the country, while the overall threat level will remain unchanged at level two. He added that they are looking into how to use the military to protect key infrastructure such as the railways.

Alert in the European Union

This attack comes amid an intensification of what is known as hybrid warfare, attributed to Russia, with cyberattacks and other forms of sabotage aimed at sowing instability and chaos in Europe, at a critical time for Ukraine, mired in conflict and lacking military support. "The actions of Russian intelligence services are increasing throughout Europe," lamented Tusk, who recalled that Poland has faced serious sabotage incidents in recent years, leading to the arrest of 55 people in total. He stated that this attack "is unprecedented" and is "perhaps the most serious, in terms of Poland's security, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine," as it could have had catastrophic consequences had it not been for the perpetrators' botched execution. Tusk has warned that Russia is interested "not only in the direct effect of such actions, but also in the social and political consequences," such as "disorganization, chaos, panic, speculation, uncertainty," and "the incitement of potentially radically anti-Ukrainian sentiments." Yesterday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, echoed this sentiment: "The threats to our security are real and growing," she said, and stressed that Europe "must urgently strengthen its capacity to protect" its infrastructure and also its space in space.