In Poland, Two Ukrainians Charged With Russia-Linked Sabotage on Railway

In Poland, the prosecutor’s office filed formal allegations of terrorist sabotage on behalf of the Russian Federation against two Ukrainian citizens, Oleksandr K. and Yevhen I., who fled from Poland to Belarus.

Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, made the announcement, according to Onet.

Novak stated that because the Ukrainian suspects had not been detained, no “procedural actions” could be taken with them.

“We launched an investigation and obtained evidence indicating that the perpetrators are two Ukrainian citizens, Olexander K. and Yevhen I., who are currently in Belarus. “The prosecutor’s office has decided to charge them with terrorist acts on behalf of the Russian Federation,” Novak stated.

Both men face life sentences. The prosecutor underlined that other people were held in connection with the case, but no charges were filed against them.

Novak said that there has been no request for interim arrest; thus, no arrest warrant has been issued at this time.

On November 18, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the investigation believes two Ukrainian residents who work with Russian special services are the perpetrators of sabotage on the Polish railway.

Tusk stated that Poland would demand the arrest and extradition of the perpetrators of the two acts of sabotage on the Lublin-Warsaw railway, who have reportedly fled to Belarus.

Tusk stated that he had directed the foreign minister to take urgent diplomatic action to return the suspects in the railway sabotage to Poland.

“(These will be appeals) to the authorities of Belarus and Russia, but we will also take other measures, which, I hope, will lead to the swift arrest of the perpetrators and their accomplices,” according to Donald Tusk.

Polish investigators think that the criminals planned to derail a train at the Pulawy station and film it, and that they used C-4 explosives to blow up the track near the village of Mika, with the explosion occurring as the train passed.

The tracks near Mika were blown up with C-4 explosives and an initiating device connected to a 300-meter wire. Investigators found a section of the material that did not explode.

According to Tusk, the incident happened on November 15 at 8:58 p.m., as a freight train was traveling through the area. The explosion caused minimal damage to the car’s underside. The train driver didn’t detect anything and kept driving.

Following these incidents, Warsaw announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Gdańsk, Poland’s last.