Boris Johnson breaks silence after escaping Russian drone attack | Politics | News
Boris Johnson has broken his silence after he had to be evacuated from Ukraine to escape a Russian drone attack. The former Prime Minister was travelling back from a security conference in Kyiv when Moscow struck a train minutes behind his, leaving him scrambling to get over the border into Poland.
He called Vladimir Putin “warped” for his military’s attack on civilian infrastructure, and slammed the Government for not giving seized Russian assets to Ukraine. He said: “I donโt know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.
“What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day โ even on civilian railways.
“So far Putin has been responsible for the deaths of 1700 staff of Ukrzaliznytsia โ Ukrainian Railways. They and their daily passengers are absolutely heroic.
“When are we going to give them the air defences they need? Why wonโt we unfreeze Putinโs cash and give it to Ukraine? There is more than โฌ140 billion in a Belgian bank account โ and about ยฃ10 billion in London. Britain could show a lead.
“The Ukrainians are going to win โ that much was clear from the last three days in their wonderful country. But we will get this dreadful war over much faster if we all get serious and give them what they need and deserve.”
The privately chartered train carrying Mr Johnson and other dignitaries was stopped and evacuated at around 5am local time on Sunday, according to reports. Another nearby train was hit as Russia launched an assault on the Ukraine-Poland border.
Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt was among those on the train with Mr Johnson. “This wasnโt our train [that was hit], but the one just minutes after us by the [Polish] border crossing,” he said.
“It was evacuated as the [Russian] drone approached and no one was hurt. Our train just had an evacuation warning but could proceed to Dorohusk. The [Russian] attacks against [Ukraine] are intensifying.”
Gรผnter Sautter, foreign and security policy advisor to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, was also on the “special train”, as well as European security advisers, members of the German Bundestag, diplomats and scientists, reports Der Spiegel.
It is thought they had been attending the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in the Ukrainian capital. Everybody was unharmed, and the train continued with its journey after no more drones were detected, reports say.
