A Russian drone hit a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train just 2km from Poland and strikes damaged vehicles and a petrol station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing, threatening a special train carrying former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and senior European officials which had to be evacuated after a drone warning.

Russian forces launched a series of drone strikes close to Ukraine's border with Poland on September 13, hitting transport and fuel infrastructure along one of the country's most important connections with the EU and triggering air defence alerts on the Nato side of the frontier.

A Russian drone struck the locomotive of a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train in Ukraine's Volyn region about 2km from the Polish border, according to Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia. The crew had been warned of the incoming threat and the train was evacuated before the strike. No injuries were reported.

Separately, a petrol station and trucks near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing caught fire during the attacks. The crossing, one of the principal road links between Ukraine and Poland, was temporarily disrupted. Moscow said its strikes were directed at infrastructure supporting the transport of European military cargo into Ukraine.

The attack came dangerously close to a special train carrying Johnson, Günter Sautter, foreign and security policy adviser to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and other European delegates returning from Kyiv.

Der Spiegel reported that the chartered train was caught in the danger zone and had to be partially evacuated. Passengers were alerted during the journey and prepared to leave the train as the drone warning was issued. Johnson, Sautter and the other passengers were unharmed.

Johnson and Sautter had been in Kyiv for the annual Yalta European Strategy conference, which brought together senior Ukrainian officials and Western politicians, security officials and policymakers. Other participants included Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt and security advisers from France and Italy.

Bild reported that Poland stepped up air defence measures as the attacks approached its territory. Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Polish systems detected a group of 12 Russian Geran-5 drones attacking western Ukraine, with one strike about 1km from the Polish border and another about 5km away. Polish F-16 fighters, helicopters and a Saab reconnaissance aircraft were used to monitor the frontier.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attacks as “Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO.” He called on Ukraine's partners to increase pressure on Moscow, including through tighter sanctions on Russia's military-industrial complex, restrictions on Russian citizens entering Western countries and a comprehensive trade embargo.

The incident came only days after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia was likely to target border crossings between Ukraine and European countries.

Tusk said on September 10 that Polish and Ukrainian intelligence services had already prevented a threat to one border crossing and said Warsaw had received intelligence, including a detailed briefing from CIA director John Ratcliffe, suggesting further Russian operations against the crossings could follow.

The warning followed a Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian border post with Moldova that killed two people, underscoring an apparent expansion of attacks against the logistics corridors linking Ukraine to its European neighbours.

The latest strikes form part of a sharp intensification of Russia's long-range drone campaign against western Ukraine and the country's transport network.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 453 drones of various types during the latest large-scale attack, including Shahed-type drones, newer jet-powered systems and decoys. Ukrainian forces said more than 400 were shot down or suppressed, although strikes or debris were recorded at multiple locations.

The railway network has come under attack for a second consecutive day. On September 12 Russian drones hit railway infrastructure in Lutsk and Fastiv, including a passenger train in Lutsk. Passengers were evacuated before that strike and no casualties were reported.

The wider September 12 barrage killed at least 10 people and injured dozens across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. Two people were killed when a Russian strike hit a shop in Zviahel in Zhytomyr region, while petrol stations and other economic infrastructure were also attacked.

The growing focus on Ukraine's western regions has raised concerns that Russia is deliberately extending its campaign towards the country's economic and logistical lifelines with the EU. Unlike eastern and central Ukraine, much of the far west had until recently remained relatively insulated from sustained attack.

The strikes also bring Russian weapons increasingly close to Nato territory without crossing it, raising the risk of an accidental spillover or miscalculation at a time when the road and rail corridors through Poland remain critical both for Ukrainian trade and Western supplies.