The indictment, filed on Thursday in the Warsaw District Court, alleges that Volodymyr B. assisted Yevhenii Ivanov in conducting reconnaissance, selecting a location to plant explosives and installing recording devices and metal elements on the rails. Prosecutors wrote that "these actions created an imminent threat of a disaster, threatening the lives and health of many people and significant property damage." They added that "their goal was to seriously intimidate many people and influence public opinion."
The sabotage occurred in fall 2025 along a rail line connecting Warsaw and the eastern city of Lublin. Near the village of Mika, a device containing military-grade C4 explosive was detonated in an apparent attempt to derail a freight train, causing only minor damage to the floor of the train. The following day, a passenger train carrying 475 people had to brake suddenly due to damage to the line near the town of Puławy. No one was injured.
Soon after, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the perpetrators were two Ukrainian citizens working on behalf of Russia who had entered Poland from Belarus and then fled back across the border. Interpol issued red notices for the two men, identified as Yevhenii Ivanov and Oleksandr Kononov, but they remain at large. Volodymyr B. was detained in Poland a few days after the sabotage and was charged with assisting in the attack.
The indictment says Volodymyr B. was "participating in the activities of Russian intelligence." The most serious charge he faces is sabotage on behalf of foreign intelligence, which carries a minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum of life imprisonment.
Poland has been a central focus of Russia's sabotage campaign in Europe, according to a report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism published earlier this year. Such actions have often been carried out by Ukrainians and Belarusians. Last month, the trial began of three Ukrainians and one Belarusian accused of being part of a criminal group that carried out a series of arson attacks in Poland and Lithuania on Russian orders. This week, Poland also announced it had detained and charged two Ukrainians accused of espionage and sabotage on behalf of Russia.