Sikorski in Kyiv: Russia’s war has already reached the EU, Poland’s and Ukraine’s security are “closely linked”

Why it matters

A foreign minister of a frontline EU and NATO state publicly framed Russian activity as terrorism that has already reached EU territory and tied it directly to Polish security, while a drone strike on the Kyiv–Warsaw rail link coincided with the travel of senior European officials and former heads of government. Warsaw responded by convening an emergency meeting with PM Donald Tusk, signalling a possible hardening of Polish political and military support for Ukraine.

What happened

On 13 September 2026, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski joined Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha for a joint briefing in Kyiv, the same day a Russian drone struck a passenger train on the Kyiv–Warsaw route at Yahodyn station in Volyn Oblast. According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the drone hit a shunting locomotive at the station; no injuries were reported. The state railway said a special train carrying European officials had crossed into Poland roughly an hour and a half earlier, though it could not say who the target had been.

Sikorski used the briefing to argue that "Russian terrorism is not just knocking on the door — it is already in the house," describing the Russian hybrid war as kinetic rather than purely informational. He listed arson in Poland, attempted aircraft disasters in Lithuania, a train-derailing attempt in Poland, an attack on Leipzig airport, the dispatching of agents to Britain and Germany, and the previous falling of Russian missiles and drones on Polish territory as part of that pattern. He framed the day’s strikes near the Polish border — including the Yahodyn attack — as direct threats to Poland’s security and said they should be "final proof" for Polish society that Polish and Ukrainian security are closely linked.

Sybiha used the same platform to press Western partners for faster action, calling for the "full force of sanctions" against what he described as Putin’s aggressive regime. Polish Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk added that the overnight strike should remove any remaining doubts in Poland about the need for military support to Kyiv. In Warsaw, an urgent security meeting was convened for the same day with PM Donald Tusk, the interior and defence ministers, and security services.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian sources led with Sikorski’s "Russian terrorism is already inside the house" framing, treating it as the headline political message of the day. They foregrounded the Yahodyn border checkpoint and the drone strike on the Kyiv–Warsaw passenger train as concrete evidence of a Russian escalation against cross-border infrastructure, and highlighted Sybiha’s call for faster partner action and the full use of sanctions. Ukrainian reporting also picked up Tomczyk’s line that the strike should end Polish doubts about military support for Kyiv, presenting the briefing as a moment to lock in intensified Western backing.

How international sources describe it

The three supplied sources are Ukrainian, so the international frame is built from foreign outlets cited in the facts rather than from the sources themselves. Der Spiegel and the BBC emphasised the diplomatic exposure of the strike: senior German politicians, including one of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s closest advisors, members of the Bundestag, diplomats and scholars were on a special train that had to be evacuated, while former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt were also travelling the route. Former CIA director David Petraeus was reported to be on a separate train at Yahodyn. Bildt posted on X that his own train received an evacuation warning but continued to Dorohusk, giving a first-person Western political reaction distinct from the Kyiv-stage messaging of the briefing itself.

Where reporting differs

One source attributes the praise Sikorski said was directed at those pitting Poles against Ukrainians to "Medvedchuk and Putin's propagandists," while another names "Medvedev and Putin's propagandists" — a difference between Viktor Medvedchuk and Dmitry Medvedev.

Accounts also diverge on who was at Yahodyn at the moment of the strike: one account says former CIA director David Petraeus was present on a train at the station, while Ukrzaliznytsia states the European officials’ train had already crossed into Poland about an hour and a half earlier and that the target could not be determined, and Der Spiegel separately reports senior German politicians had to be evacuated from the route.

Background

Sikorski framed the conflict as a physical and ideological Russian war aimed at restoring Russia’s status as a country with the right to dominate others. He placed the Yahodyn strike in a series he says already touches EU and NATO territory: arson in Poland, attempted aircraft disasters in Lithuania, an attempt to derail a train in Poland, an attack on Leipzig airport, the dispatching of Russian agents to Britain and Germany, and Russian missiles and drones previously falling on Polish soil. Ukrzaliznytsia confirmed the special European officials’ train crossed into Poland roughly an hour and a half before the strike on the shunting locomotive at Yahodyn, with no injuries reported.