Poland hints it suspects Putin over prepare explosion and ‘unprecedented act of sabotage’ designed to trigger prepare catastrophe and mass casualties

Poland has raised the alarm over an ‘unprecedented act of sabotage’ after an explosion blew up a railway line linking Warsaw to south-eastern Poland – with senior ministers hinting that Russian intelligence services may have ordered the attack.

Over the weekend, authorities confirmed one act of sabotage and said a second incident was ‘highly likely’ to be deliberate, as pressure grows on Poland’s security services to determine whether Moscow was involved. 

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who visited the site on Monday, said the line is ‘crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine‘ and confirmed that an explosion had destroyed part of the Warsaw-Lublin route near the village of Mika.

Polish Special services minister Tomasz Siemoniak added there was a ‘very high’ chance those behind the blast were acting on orders from a foreign intelligence agency, without naming Russia directly, but leaving little doubt about where suspicion lies.

A train driver first reported irregularities on the track at around 7.40am local time on Sunday, prompting an inspection that revealed there was a damaged section near Mika, roughly  100 kilometres (62 miles) south-east of Warsaw.

Officials said it was unclear whether the explosion happened late on Saturday or early on Sunday.

Two passengers and several staff members were on the train but no injuries were reported, officials said.

Polish defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday that the army plans to examine 120 kilometres (74.5 miles) of the Warsaw-Lublin-Hrubieszow line, which links the capital to Ukraine by rail and road.

A second train was damaged separately on Sunday and the incident is under investigation, minister of interior Marcin Kierwinski said.

A train on the Swinoujscie to Rzeszow route was forced to stop on Sunday night about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Lublin after the overhead electrical cables that powered the train were damaged, Mr Kierwinski said in a statement.

There were 475 passengers on board but no injuries were reported.

Deputy interior minister Maciej Duszczyk appealed against jumping to conclusions about the identity of the perpetrators ‘because Russia isn’t so powerful that every arson, every situation of this kind, is provoked by Russia’.

But Mr Duszczyk also told Polsat television that ‘this cannot be ruled out or ignored in any way’.

Mr Tusk vowed that Poland will ‘catch the perpetrators, whoever they are’.

Polish authorities have detained dozens of people over suspected sabotage and espionage since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Poland has accused Russia of being behind some of these acts.

Vladimir Putin has increasingly ordered drone incursions in Europe over the last few months as Russia ramps up what officials say is its hybrid war with countries on the continent.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the pattern as ‘hybrid warfare’. She said Russia’s goal is to ‘sow division’ inside Europe.

She did not accuse Moscow of being behind every flight, but said the aim was clearly to unsettle European countries and weaken unity.

On November 4, Brussels Airport, the busiest in Belgium, was forced to shut after drone sightings. Operations in a smaller airport in Liege also came to a halt after drones were spotted.

The country’s defence minister, Theo Francken, was adamant that professionals caused the disruptions and said they were carried out to destabilise the country.

It led the interior minister, Bernard Quintin, to ask prime minister Bart De Wever to convene the National Security Council. He also stated that the incident necessitated a ‘coordinated, national response’.

Although the airport reopened this morning, there are still major delays with thousands of passengers left stranded.

On November 2, Francken said experts were probing drone sightings over the Kleine Brognel air base in north-east Belgium. Last week, there were two sightings over a military air base in the south-east.

The country also reported drones over a military base near the German border.

Since September, several countries have reported suspicious drone activities and illegal incursions into airspace.

At the end of last month, Polish MiG-29 fighter jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Days before that, the army had reported a similar incident.

During an attack on overnight attack on Ukraine on September 9, over 20 Russian drones crossed into Poland.

NATO responded by sending F-35 and F-16 jets, helicopters and a Patriot missile battery to reinforce the area. Warsaw also requested consultations under NATO’s Article 4, which permits allies to discuss threats to their security.

On 19 September, Estonia reported that three powerful Russian MIG-31 fighter jets had violated its airspace and stayed there for a total of 12 minutes.

The incident sparked World War Three concerns when one of the falling drones that were shot down hit an elderly couple’s home, destroying the roof.

Experts have acknowledged that war could have broken out between Russia and NATO had they been killed.

On September 10, the Czech army also reported a spike in unidentified drones over sensitive military facilities.

In Denmark, drone activity disrupted six airports that month, including Copenhagen Airport, the busiest travel hub in the Nordic region. It left around 20,000 passengers stranded.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called it a hybrid attack on her country. He also said it was ‘the worst attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.’