Foreign state services behind Polish rail sabotage, says minister – as it happened

As we are closing the blog now, here is a summary of what we know so far:

• Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk condemned “an unprecedented act of sabotage aimed at the security of the Polish state and its citizens,” after two separate incidents were reported on a key railway line leading to Ukraine.

• At a lunchtime press conference, interior minister Marcin Kierwiński spoke of “two acts of sabotage this weekend,” one confirmed, and one “highly likely”, affecting the same rail line (14:04).

• No injuries were reported in either of the two incidents.

• Both incidents were reported on a critical railway line used for carrying aid deliveries for Ukraine, used by up to 115 trains a day.

• Poland’s security services minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the likelihood that the incidents were inspired by foreign intelligence services was deemed to be “very high” (14:12).

• He later told reporters that certain parts of the investigation need to remain confidential, as “we are dealing with the [intelligence] services of a foreign state, and not a gang of scrap metal thieves” (14:43).

• A meeting of the government’s national security committee is scheduled for Tuesday morning (16:12).

In other news,

• EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius have warned that Russia could test Nato’s defences “during the next two or four years,” suggesting it could begin with an attack on a Baltic state (10:45).

• Ukraine and France have signed a letter of intent for a deal including up to 100 Rafale warplanes, drones and ground-to-air systems for Kyiv during a much-advertised meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron in Paris (11:05, 11:28, 13:27, 13:34, 13:43).

• German chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned about “a deep rift” in Europe’s relations with the US, the growing threat from China and the rapidly progressing systemic challenges to the world order that required a united European response in a wide-ranging speech to an economic conference in Berlin (11:38).

• EU countries should give Ukraine grants or take out loans to fund its defence, if they cannot agree on using Russia’s frozen assets, according to an options paper drawn up by the European Commission (15:46).

• Germany’s finance minister is in Beijing today as tensions between China and Europe over supply of chips deepen (16:01).

And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.

If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.

I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Poland will send its territorial army to help the country’s transport police patrol the most sensitive parts of critical rail infrastructure in eastern Poland, defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

The army, formed of trained volunteers, will be tasked with looking at bridges, viaducts, tunnels, stations, and other key elements of the infrastructure, he said.

The officers will also be given unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and supported by a helicopter, he added.

Separately, over in Romania, the authorities evacuated a village near the Ukrainian border, after a Russian drone attack in southern Ukraine set fire to a ship carrying liquefied petroleum gas.

Due to the ship’s “proximity to Romanian territory and the nature of its cargo”, authorities ordered the evacuation of the villages of Plauru and Ceatalchioi, situated across the Danube from the Ukrainian port city of Izmail, AFP and Romanian media reported.

Romanian authorities estimated that a potential explosion could have an impact radius of up to 5 kilometers. 300 people have been moved as a result, it was reported.

AFP noted that since invading Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian ports in the Danube region, triggering alerts in neighbouring Romania.

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has also responded to the reported acts of sabotage in Poland, warning that “the threats to our security are real and growing.”

“Europe must urgently boost capacity to protect our skies and our infrastructure. Poland is the largest defence spender in Europe. And it will be the biggest beneficiary of the SAFE instrument,” she said in a social media post.

She added in Polish: “Razem jesteśmy silniejsi.” (“We’re stronger together.”)

Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has just called a meeting of the government’s national security committee for tomorrow morning to discuss the rail incidents.

The meeting will be attended by military commanders, heads of security services, and a representative of the Polish president, he said.

The committee is usually chaired by the country’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also serves as a deputy prime minister.

Germany’s finance minister is in Beijing today as tensions between China and Europe over supply of chips deepen.

Lars Klingbeil’s trip is the first visit to China by a cabinet minister of the current German government and comes as trade figures show that Germany, once the engine of European manufacturing, is now importing more from China than it is exporting.

It also comes weeks after a cancelled visit by foreign minister Johann Wadephul.

China overtook the US as the largest trading partner in the first eight months of 2025 fuelling European fears that Beijing has been redirecting exports to the EU in the wake of the trade war ignited by Donald Trump.

Germany faces a record trade deficit of €87bn with China this year, according to a forecast by state-owned international economic promotion agency Germany Trade & Invest.

“Germany is uniquely exposed to the risks of Chinese industrial overcapacity – and it’s going to hit very hard,” said Jacob Gunter, head of the economy and industry programme at the thinktank Merics.

The dependency of Europe, including the UK, on China for everything from semiconductors, to rare earths and critical raw materials, has come into sharp focus in the last two months after the Dutch government effectively took control of the Chinese-owned chip maker Nexperia.

That triggered a fierce response from Beijing, which slapped a global ban on exports of Nexperia’s finished chips, which in turn led to Dutch economy minister Vincent Karremans telling the Guardian that the crisis was a “wake up call” for Europe and the west. A Dutch delegation is also due to land in Beijing this week to try to resolve the matter.

In Germany, politicians have called for a full-blown reassessment of policy towards Beijing, some accusing the previous Social Democrat-led government of having let Germany become too dependent on Beijing.

Germany’s parliament appointed an expert commission on Thursday to rethink trade policy towards China, which on Friday hit out at Karremans blaming him for the extraordinary chip row and expressing “extreme disappointment” with him.

“The Nexperia example should spur us to talk and demand transparency – otherwise a business problem gets used as a geopolitical issue,” said Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Commerce DIHK.

“It must be clear to the Chinese government that we cannot accept economic and political interests being mixed together,” said Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU party.

in Brussels

EU countries should give Ukraine grants or take out loans to fund its defence, if they cannot agree on using Russia’s frozen assets, according to an options paper drawn up by the European Commission.

The commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine faces a looming €135.7bn shortfall in its budget for 2026-27 to pay for defence and keep the country running.

The letter to EU leaders dated 17 November, seen by the Guardian, sets out three options for funding Ukraine:

1. Non-repayable grants to Ukraine funded by EU countries;

2. A loan for Kyiv funded by EU borrowing on capital markets;

3. An EU loan secured against Russia’s frozen assets in the bloc.

Citing one day alone in recent weeks when Russia launched more than 40 ballistic and cruise missiles and almost 500 drones targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, von der Leyen wrote:

“The message we send now must be crystal clear: Europe is standing strong with Ukraine.”

Von der Leyen has made little secret of the fact that she favours the third option, which is predicated on the idea that Russia would eventually agree to pay reparations to Ukraine. The commission president also points out in the letter the different ways of funding Ukraine could be combined.

Belgium, which hosts the majority of Russia’s frozen assets in the EU, continues to hesitate over the plan, saying it needs more guarantees about sharing the risk, if for instance, Russia refused to pay reparations. EU leaders are aiming to break the deadlock at a summit next month.

But options one and two are unappealing for many member states, who face low growth and/or are under pressure to make domestic spending cuts. Fiscally-conservative countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, are also strongly opposed to further common EU borrowing.

Arriving at a meeting to prepare next month’s summit, Sweden’s minister for EU affairs, Jessica Rosencrantz, told reporters that it was important to move forward on the use of Russia’s frozen assets.

“We realise and respect that there are considerations not least from Belgium, but these need to be resolved and we need to have a decision in December. It is the time for Europe to take bold decisions and to make Russia pay and therefore we need to use the Russian frozen assets.”

• Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk condemned “an unprecedented act of sabotage aimed at the security of the Polish state and its citizens,” after two separate incidents were reported on a key railway line towards Ukraine.

• At a lunchtime press conference, interior minister Marcin Kierwiński spoke of “two acts of sabotage this weekend,” one confirmed, and one “highly likely”, affecting the same rail line (14:04).

• In the first incident, reported on Sunday morning near the village of Mika, authorities confirmed damage to a section of track as a result of an explosion, with Tusk saying it was “mostly likely intended to blow up a train” on that route (10:41).

• Separately, a second incident was reported near Puławy on Sunday evening, where reported damage to the overhead line forced an emergency stop of a passenger train carrying 475 passengers, with further reports of a possible obstruction on tracks. This event is still being investigated.

• No injuries were reported in both incidents.

• Both incidents were reported on a critical railway line used for carrying aid deliveries for Ukraine, used by up to 115 trains a day.

• Poland’s security services minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the likelihood that the incidents were inspired by foreign intelligence services was deemed to be “very high” (14:12).

• He later told reporters that certain parts of the investigation need to remain confidential, as “we are dealing with the [intelligence] services of a foreign state, and not a gang of scrap metal thieves” (14:43).

• Meanwhile, defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, said the country’s armed forces would inspect the remaining 120km to the Polish-Ukrainian border to check for further obstructions or technical issues.

• Polish authorities have not attributed the responsibility for the sabotage to anyone, but in recent months Warsaw has criticised Russia for hybrid incidents targeting Poland, with 55 people arrested for illegal activities on Russia’s behalf, despite repeated denials by Moscow.

Security services minister Siemoniak goes a bit further on his earlier comment (14:12), as he tells reporters that certain parts of the investigation need to remain confidential, as “we are dealing with the [intelligence] services of a foreign state, and not a gang of scrap metal thieves.”

He says authorities have two priorities: to keep people safe and to catch perpetrators, but this sometimes requires a bit of a delay before the general public learns about the latest findings of the investigators.

Siemoniak also appeared to hint that Poland could change – presumably raise – its threat level, saying a specialist committee would discuss and “pass its recommendations” to the prime minister later today.

Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal is the first European leader to express solidarity with Poland, as he says:

“Estonia stands with Poland and @donaldtusk, strongly condemning the sabotage on the Warsaw–Lublin railway, vital for supporting Ukraine.

Those behind hostile acts against EU and Nato members must be exposed. Our response must be united.”

Poland’s security services minister Tomasz Siemoniak says the threat is not entirely new, as Poland has seen repeated acts of sabotage since January 2024, with 55 people arrested so far.

But he says the incidents mark “a new stage of threatening the railway infrastructure.”

While he doesn’t attribute the incident to anyone, he does say that security services are involved in the investigation, because “it’s likely happening … on orders of foreign intelligence services.”

Poland’s interior minister Marcin Kierwiński is now briefing the media.

He speaks of the two incidents as “two acts of sabotage,” but – as per our summary (13:12) – then specifies that one of them has been formally confirmed as an act of sabotage, and the other one remains under investigation, but is considered to be “highly likely” an act of sabotage.

Asked about his views about the prospects of peace in Ukraine, Macron says he hopes it will be achieved before the end of his term in 2027.

He highlights a few “real turning points” in recent months, as Ukraine’s allies aligned the US and European positions on Ukraine, and keep putting more pressure on Russia, including through sanctions on oil companies and more efforts against the Russian shadow fleet.

But he says that what’s needed next is a broader agreement guaranteeing “robust and lasting peace” in Ukraine, because “if Ukraine is not strong and credible, Russia will violate its commitments” again.

In his opening remarks, Macron says that Ukraine and its European allies are ready to take part in peace talks, but remarked that Russia keeps intensifying its attacks on Ukraine.

He says that continuing Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure show “that Russia does not want peace,” and will not stop its aggression.

“We remain determined, and we remain strong and united for peace. It’s all about not only about Ukraine security, but the security of all Europeans that is at stake,” he says.

He says the agreements signed today will help to strenghten the Ukrainian army at this critical point in the war.

He confirms the earlier reports that the deal includes Rafale fighter jets.

“We have shown that both on short term but also medium to long term, we’re ready to help Ukraine, whatever it takes,” he says.

The French president also mentions the on-going work on the EU’s reparation loan for Ukraine, and the use of other assets to help Kyiv.

“The EU will need to find ways to maintain Ukraine’s financial independence from now on, for the next few years, until this war settles,” he says, stressing this is important to send a signal to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that he “won’t be able to bet on Europe’s fatigue” with the war.

But he pointedly also says there is a clear need to fight against corruption, as he talks about the need to pursue the rule of law reforms as Ukraine continues its push to join the EU.

He says he has confidence in the determination of the Ukrainian people to pursue the necessary reforms, and in Zelenskyy’s ability to do so.

Meanwhile over in Paris, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron are speaking to reporters, after a brief delay caused by a technical issue with the interpretation …

I will bring you all the key lines here.

• Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk condemned “an unprecedented act of sabotage aimed at the security of the Polish state and its citizens,” after two separate incidents were reported on a key railway line going towards Ukraine.

• In the first incident, reported on Sunday morning near the village of Mika, authorities confirmed damage to a section of track as a result of an explosion, with Tusk saying it was “mostly likely intended to blow up a train” on that route (10:41).

• Separately, a second incident was reported near Puławy on Sunday evening, where reported damage to the overhead line forced an emergency stop of a passenger train carrying 475 passengers, with further media reports of a possible obstruction on tracks. This event is being investigated and has not yet been formally confirmed as an act of sabotage.

• No injuries were reported in both incidents.

• Both incidents were reported on a critical railway line used for carrying aid deliveries for Ukraine.

• Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, said the country’s armed forces would inspect the remaining 120km to the Polish-Ukrainian border to check for further obstructions or technical issues.

• Polish authorities have not attributed the responsibility for the sabotage to anyone, but in recent months Warsaw has criticised Russia for hybrid incidents targeting Poland, with 55 people arrested for illegal activities on Russia’s behalf, despite repeated denials by Moscow.

• Senior government ministers will give a press briefing with the latest on the investigation at 2pm local time (1pm London).

Over in Berlin, German chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned about “a deep rift” in Europe’s relations with the US, the growing threat from China and the rapidly progressing systemic challenges to the world order that required a united European response.

In a wide-ranging speech at the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Economic Summit, Merz said that Germany faced “a deep rift in transatlantic relations that calls into question almost everything that we have considered right and necessary for decades.”

He also pointedly warned about China, saying the regime is “becoming outwardly more aggressive, inwardly more repressive.”

Merz also spoke about the need to digitise and modernise the German state, and removing EU’s “excessive” bureaucracy, which he said risked “jeopardising the overall success” of the EU’s single market.

He said that “a new fundamental world order” was only emerging, marking the end of the “reasonable certainty” of life in the past few decades.

“We are facing international challenges that we as Europeans must answer together, with the ability to defend ourselves,” he said, adding that Europe faced “permanent” threats to its democracies, and freedoms.

Merz also spoke about the need for German and Europe to become more “sovereign” in emerging technologies, stressing the need to work closely with France, Poland, and even the UK, even after Brexit.

He also spoke at length about the challenges to global trade, saying that with the US under Donald Trump “we’re essentially witnessing an attempt to destroy the World Trade Organization.”

“I want to counter that,” he said, mounting a defence of the international trade system.

The Élysée Palace is now offering a bit more detail on what was covered by the letter of intent signed by Zelenskyy and Macron, including up to 100 French Rafale fighter jetsm additional air defence equipment and drones.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now in Paris for his day of meetings with France’s Emmanuel Macron and the French army.

In the first few minutes of his visit, the pair have signed a letter of intent on defence purchases, standing in front of a Rafale jet fighter, rumoured to be part of the order.

We should hear from them both around early lunchtime and I will bring you all the lines here.

Meanwhile, Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, has said the army will now inspect the safety of the remaining 120km track going towards the border with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius have warned that Russia could test Nato’s defences “during the next two or four years,” suggesting it could include an attack on a Baltic state.

Speaking at the “Defending Baltics 2025: War Lessons from Ukraine” conference in Vilnius this morning, Kubilius said the urgency of working out how to defend the Baltic region comes from “the public statements of our intelligence services, including from Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and from our region that Putin can be ready to test Article Five during next two or four years, before 2030.”

“We can just guess that in such a case, Baltic states will be one of the preferable targets of the new Kremlin aggression. It will be an aggression also against all of Nato and against all of European Union,” he said.

Kubilius insisted that EU and Nato countries needed to draw lessons from Ukraine’s gith against Russia and speed up their defence plans.

“My major message today: let’s ask Ukrainians how to be ready for defence, and how they can help us to be ready,” he said.

He was frustrated that it took EU countries years “to understand that we are not ready to detect Russian drones and to destroy them with cost effective means, despite the fact that all of us witnessed how drones are being massively used on the Ukrainian frontline.”

“We need to remember that if day X comes and Putin decides to test Article Five somewhere in the Baltic region, we shall face the aggression of a battle-tested Russian army which is now much stronger than it was back in February 2022, and is able to use millions of drones. … Are we really prepared for such a day X despite the fact that we do not have battle tested armies in the Baltic states?,” he asked.

In a further video update, Tusk said the explosion “most likely intended to blow up a train on the Warsaw-Dęblin route,” adding that another, similar, incident was reported farther east “on the same railway line”.

He said it was considered as “an attempt to destabilise and destroy railway infrastructure, which could have led to a rail disaster.”

“Unfortunately, there is no doubt that we are dealing with an act of sabotage. Fortunately, there was no tragedy, but the matter is nonetheless very serious,” he said.

“The case is developing and under investigation, but indeed, unfortunately, there is no doubt that we are dealing with deliberate action — an act of sabotage,” he said.

According to media reports, the other incident he referred to involved a passenger train carrying 475 passengers near Puławy in south-eastern Poland.

In further comments after his visit to the site of the incident this morning, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk called it “an unprecedented act of sabotage aimed at the security of the Polish state and its citizens.”

“An investigation is under way. Just like in previous cases of this kind, we will catch the perpetrators, regardless of who their backers are,” he pledged.

Poland’s interior minister Marcin Kierwiński also just issued a brief update, saying “there is no doubt that we are dealing with an act of sabotage.”

“Another section of this strategic railway route, where the tracks were damaged, is also being investigated,” he said.

In the last few minutes, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has said that yesterday’s disruption on a busy railway route between Warsaw and Lublin in eastern Poland was confirmed as caused by an explosive device placed on the track.

“Unfortunately, [our] worst fears have been confirmed. On the Warsaw-Lublin route (Mika village), an act of sabotage has occurred. The explosion of an explosive device destroyed the railway track,” he said.

More damage was found elsewhere on the same line, Tusk said, prompting concerns about deliberate targeting of the route, which is used among others to facilitate aid deliveries to Ukraine.

Tusk said that “emergency services and the prosecutor’s office are working at the scene.”

The incident was reported on Sunday morning after a driver of a regional passenger train had spotted a missing part of the track, triggering an investigation into the causes of the damage.

The incident will cause further concern in Poland which remains on high alert amid continuing hybrid threats from Russia and Belarus, after more than 20 drones flew into Polish airspace in September, prompting a Nato response.

Expect more reactions from Poland and allies.

But the main event of the day will come a bit later as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy flies to Paris to meet with the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, and discuss the latest on Ukraine and bilateral cooperation on defence, energy, and the economy.

Elsewhere,

• Finland’s influential president Alexander Stubb is in Brussels to meet with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte

• German finance minister and vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil is in China for talks on trade

• Czech Republic and Slovakia mark the 36th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

I will bring you all the latest here.

It’s Monday, 17 November 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.