Drone strikes hit key Ukraine-Poland supply route, sparking border fires

Falling drone debris set fire to a petrol station and several trucks near the Yahodyn border crossing in western Ukraine, according to Valentyna Chernysh, a spokesperson for the Volyn Customs Service. She told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne that the checkpoint itself was not hit and remained intact. No one was injured.

Border operations were temporarily suspended during the air-raid alert as customs staff and travellers took shelter. Processing later resumed as emergency workers dealt with the damage. Footage from the scene showed firefighters and other emergency personnel at the petrol station, as well as damage to a nearby road.

The incident came as Russian drones targeted several areas in western Ukraine, which has so far been largely spared the heaviest fighting seen in the east. The overnight strikes also hit a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train near the border, damaging its locomotive about two kilometres from Poland, according to Ukraine’s state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia. No one was injured after passengers and crew were evacuated following an advance warning.

The Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing is one of the main road routes for military and humanitarian supplies entering Ukraine from Poland and other Western allies. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes near the border were more than an attack on Ukraine’s frontier, describing them as “Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO” and calling on European countries to tighten sanctions against Moscow.

Polish officials said the strike site was about 800 metres from the Polish border and confirmed that no injuries had been reported on the Polish side. Ukrainian and Polish authorities were continuing to assess the impact of the attacks.