Polish foreign minister fingers Russia’s GRU in rail track blast

WARSAW, Poland — In the aftermath of a blast that destroyed a train track in a village south of the country’s capital Warsaw, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told lawmakers the act of sabotage was likely performed on the orders of Russia’s military intelligence.

“In the past days, there were activities of foreign services that could have caused a train catastrophe and the deaths of many people. A foreign country sent well-prepared saboteurs,” Sikorski said during a session of the Polish parliament’s lower chamber on Nov. 19.

Since the incident, which was detected on Nov. 17, Polish authorities have identified two Ukrainian citizens allegedly recruited by Russian intelligence as the suspects behind the blast. One of them had been convicted in absentia of involvement in acts of sabotage in Ukraine.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that the two suspects have since fled Poland by crossing the country’s border with Belarus.

“Russia’s [military intelligence service] GRU routinely hires for its dirty work people who work under a ‘false flag.’ This was not an act of sabotage, as the previous ones, but an act of state terror,” Sikorski said. “We will give a reply to it, not only a diplomatic one.”

The blast did not cause any casualties. Polish authorities have responded by deploying the military to assist in the investigation and check other segments of the Warsaw-Lublin rail track that was impacted by sabotage.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Warsaw has established itself as one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies, delivering weapons and military equipment to its neighbor.

This has triggered backlash from Russia combined with hostile hybrid attacks against Poland involving cyberattacks, arson and various acts of sabotage.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——在首都华沙南部一个村庄的铁轨被爆炸摧毁后，波兰副总理兼外交部长拉多斯瓦夫·西科尔斯基告诉议员们，这起破坏行为很可能是俄罗斯军事情报部门下令实施的。

“过去几天，外国势力的活动险些酿成火车事故，造成多人死亡。某个外国派出了训练有素的破坏分子，”西科尔斯基在11月19日波兰议会下院的一次会议上说道。

自11月17日事件被发现以来，波兰当局已确认两名据称受俄罗斯情报部门招募的乌克兰公民为爆炸案嫌疑人。其中一人曾因参与乌克兰境内的破坏活动而被缺席判刑。

波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克宣布，两名嫌疑人已通过越过波兰与白俄罗斯的边境逃离波兰。

西科尔斯基说：“俄罗斯军事情报总局（GRU）经常雇用一些打着‘假旗行动’旗号的人从事肮脏勾当。这并非像之前那样的破坏行为，而是国家恐怖主义行径。我们将予以回应，而且不仅仅是外交回应。”

爆炸未造成人员伤亡。波兰当局已部署军队协助调查，并检查华沙至卢布林铁路沿线其他受破坏影响的路段。

自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月入侵乌克兰以来，华沙已成为基辅最坚定的盟友之一，向其邻国提供武器和军事装备。

这引发了俄罗斯的强烈反弹，俄罗斯对波兰发动了敌对的混合攻击，包括网络攻击、纵火和各种破坏行为。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。