Former CIA chief aboard train attacked by Russian forces near border

Details of attack on train in Yahodyn

The company said a dispatcher from the Central Monitoring Group detected the Russian jet-powered mesh drone in time.

An emergency evacuation alert was issued 15 minutes before the locomotive was hit.

Thanks to the railway workers' quick response, casualties and injuries among passengers and staff were prevented.

It later became known that shortly before the locomotive was hit, a diplomatic train had been at the same station.

It was carrying security advisers from several EU countries and former European politicians, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

At the exact time of the attack, former CIA Director David Petraeus was on another train at Yahodyn station.

Ukrzaliznytsia believes the Russian drone may have been targeting the diplomatic train. It departed earlier than scheduled because of security-related timetable changes.

The railway operator regularly adjusts routes in real time in response to the ongoing threat of targeted Russian strikes.

Strike on diplomatic train in Yahodyn

As previously reported, on September 13, 2026, a Russian jet-powered drone targeted the Yahodyn railway station in Ukraine's Volyn region.

According to Der Spiegel, a special train carrying German Chancellor adviser Günter Sautter, other European diplomats, and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was near the station during the attack.

Passengers on the diplomatic train were evacuated in time, so no one was injured.

Earlier, it was reported that a locomotive of a Ukrzaliznytsia civilian train was hit by Russian drone strikes near the Ukrainian-Polish border.

Thanks to the prompt response of dispatchers from the Central Monitoring Group, passengers began evacuating 15 minutes before the train was hit.