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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated as events unfold.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has confirmed that a deliberate act of sabotage was behind an explosion that damaged a train line that runs between Warsaw and the eastern city of Lublin.
No possible perpetrator has yet been identified, though some figures from the ruling coalition have pointed to the fact that Poland has recently suffered various acts of sabotage carried out by operatives working on behalf of Russia. A deputy foreign minister notes that the train line in question is used for supplying Ukraine.
Niestety potwierdziły się najgorsze przypuszczenia. Na trasie Warszawa-Lublin (wieś Mika) doszło do aktu dywersji. Eksplozja ładunku wybuchowego zniszczyła tor kolejowy. Na miejscu pracują służby i prokuratura. Na tej samej trasie, bliżej Lublina, również stwierdzono uszkodzenie. pic.twitter.com/aSfNRUD0q9
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) November 17, 2025
Reports of damage on the track first emerged on Sunday, after a train driver noticed damaged rails near the village of Mika on the route between Warsaw and Lublin. On Sunday afternoon, Tusk said the incident may have been an act of sabotage.
On Monday morning, the prime minister announced that, “unfortunately, the worst fears have been confirmed”. He said an “explosive charge” had been used to destroy the track and noted that damage on the same line had been discovered at another location closer to Lublin.
The emergency services, Internal Security Agency (ABW) and prosecutor’s office are working to investigate the incidents, which did not result in any injuries. Rail traffic continues to operate on an adjacent track.
Od kilku godzin służby pracują na linii kolejowej Dęblin – Życzyn, gdzie stwierdzono ubytek w torze. Trwa ustalanie czy to celowe działanie.
Foto. @Dyspozytura_T pic.twitter.com/qSMng7ORkk— Remiza.pl (@remizacompl) November 16, 2025
Poland has in recent years experienced a number of acts of sabotage, many of which have been blamed on individuals and groups operating on behalf of Russia.
In 2023, 16 members of a group operating on behalf of Russia were jailed. They had planned, among other objectives, to blow up aid trains bound for Ukraine. Since then, a number of other acts of sabotage, including arson attacks, have been carried out by other groups.
However, speaking to broadcaster Polsat on Sunday, deputy interior minister Maciej Duszczyk appealed for people not to automatically blame Russia for every such incident.
“Russia isn’t so powerful that every arson, every situation of this kind, is provoked by Russia,” said Duszczyk, though he added that Russia’s involvement in the latest incident “cannot be ruled out”.
However, Duszczyk’s former boss, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, who served as interior minister from 2023 to 2024, did immediately suggest that Russia was behind the incident, telling broadcaster TVN that “it may indicate a new form of hybrid warfare between Russia and Poland”.
“Not a month goes by without some form of aggression from people recruited by the Russian security services on the territory of not only Poland but the entire European Union,” added Sienkiewicz, who is now an MEP for Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) party. “We are truly at war.”
Deputy foreign minister Marcin Bosacki similarly told broadcaster TVP that “not a week goes by without our services detecting acts of sabotage by Russia”. He noted that the latest incident took place on a track that is part of “a very important route…for supplying Ukraine”.
Poland has detained eight further people suspected of planning acts of sabotage on behalf of Russia.
One of them, a Ukrainian citizen, is accused of sending packages containing explosives to Ukraine with the intention of detonating them during transport https://t.co/uTznCFqGMA
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 21, 2025
Later on Monday, the chief of staff of the Polish armed forces, Wiesław Kukuła, issued a statement on the incident. While he did not name Russia directly, he appeared to suggest Moscow was behind it.
“The adversary has begun preparations for war,” said General Kukuła. “They are building a certain environment here that is intended to undermine public trust in the government and institutions such as the armed forces and police. It is intended to create conditions favourable to potential aggression on Polish territory.”
“These types of actions haven’t necessarily always preceded armed conflicts,” he added. “I emphasise once again: what matters most today is our attitude, our reaction.”
Szef Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego Wiesław Kukuła skomentował incydent na linii kolejowej Dęblin–Warszawa, określając go jako element działań dywersyjnych wymierzonych w Polskę ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/qHPykglUI5
— tvp.info 🇵🇱 (@tvp_info) November 17, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Marcin Kierwiński/X
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
