Russian drone almost hit former CIA director, may have targeted Boris Johnson

Former CIA Director David Petraeus on Sunday was at a Ukrainian train station while a Russian drone hit a passenger train not long after a diplomatic train transported former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other foreign officials.

The Ukrainian state railway, Ukrzaliznytsia, stated that the diplomatic train was at the border between Ukraine and Poland after exiting the station at Yahodyn. Ukraine’s Central Monitoring Group, the dispatch unit that tracks aerial threats, notified the train’s passengers and crew to evacuate.

The alert was transmitted “literally 15 minutes before” the drone hit the train, according to a translated Telegram post .

“It is quite likely that the target of this Russian drone could also have been the diplomatic train, which departed from the station earlier than planned as part of the real-time review of train schedules due to the constant threat of Russian strikes,” Ukrainian railway officials said.

Petraeus told The New York Times that he heard the drones fly over his train as he left Ukraine after attending a security conference in Kyiv. He heard an explosion shortly after he and other passengers evacuated the train.

“This is the act of a truly barbaric leader trying to terrorize Ukrainian civilians,” he told the Times in a phone interview.

Johnson rode with national security advisers from several European Union and NATO member states. He later wrote on the social platform X that the Ukrzaliznytsia staff and their passengers are “absolutely heroic.”

“I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning,” Johnson wrote, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day –– even on civilian railways.”

The railway stated that the diplomatic train might have been the target, noting that the train left the station earlier. The country’s rail system adjusts train schedules in response to the frequent threat of Russian attacks.

Petraeus boarded a different train and safely entered Poland. He praised Ukraine’s people as being “truly unbreakable” against Russian attacks.

Russia has intensified its campaign against Ukraine’s infrastructure, including its railways and power grid, ahead of the harsh winter season. The Russian Defense Ministry said it’s targeting “railway infrastructure facilities in western Ukraine that are used to transport military cargoes from European countries,” CNN reported , citing state news agency TASS.

These attacks have come in response to Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s diesel refineries, including in Siberia and the city of Nizhnekamsk, a hub for several refineries.

President Trump called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt attacks on these refineries, saying that it was “hurting the world.” Diesel prices have soared to an average of $6.23 per gallon as of Monday after an average of $3.71 last year, according to AAA .

Zelensky wrote on X on Monday that Ukraine will halt strikes if Russia agrees to a deal facilitated by European and American partners.

“If our partners are ready to ensure that Russia genuinely refrains from striking our electricity system, other energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and food supply routes, then, of course, we are ready to ensure a corresponding halt to our strikes,” he said.