Boris Johnson’s train had just passed a Ukrainian station. Moments later, a Russian drone struck

London: Former British prime minister Boris Johnson was on a train travelling from Ukraine to Poland when the railway line was targeted by a Russian drone.

Johnson was returning from a security conference in Kyiv when he was woken by guards at 5am on Sunday and told to prepare for an evacuation.

The warning was issued after another passenger train behind Johnson’s train was attacked in the province of Volyn, almost two kilometres from the Polish border.

An all-clear was given shortly afterwards when no further drones were detected, enabling Johnson’s train to continue. The former prime minister was unharmed, the London Telegraph understands.

Former CIA chief David Petraeus had been on board another train at the station at the time of the drone strike, Ukraine’s state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia, said.

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who was also on board the private train with other European diplomats, said they were told the train immediately behind them had been hit by a Russian drone.

“This wasn’t our train [that was hit], but the one just minutes after us by the [Polish] border crossing,” said Bildt. “It was evacuated as the [Russian] drone approached and no one was hurt.”

Ukrainian authorities said the train was carrying 206 passengers, who were seen running in fear after the attack. They confirmed there were no casualties.

Footage circulating on social media appeared to show trucks on fire at the crossing, while Ukrainian media reported that a petrol station had also been hit.

The attack came close to the Polish border, according to Ukrainian railway officials, raising concerns about Russian strikes reaching increasingly close to NATO territory.

Johnson was in Ukraine alongside advisers from other European nations for the Yalta European Strategy, a security conference where Western officials met officials from the Ukrainian government to discuss possible peace negotiations with Russia.

Other attendees at the conference, which took place in the bunker of a Kyiv hotel, included Günter Sautter, one of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s closest advisers, and Jonathan Powell, the UK’s National Security Adviser, who were also on board the train with Johnson.

Robin Wagener, a Green Party member of the German parliament, who was also on board the train, expressed his shock after the attacks.

“These drone attacks are blind terror against Ukrainian civilians and a dangerous escalation in Putin’s war,” Wagener told Der Spiegel.