The Russians hit the locomotive of the train in Ukraine, but there were no victims. Ukrainian authorities announced that all passengers had been evacuated.
Just before this attack, the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other European national security advisers, passed the same line on a different train, returning from a conference in Kiev.
Russia said it had targeted "railway infrastructure" in western Ukraine, but Ukraine's state railway company Ukrzaliznitsa said it was "very possible that the target of this drone was a diplomatic train".
"Frightening"
Former CIA director David Petraeus, who was on another train at Yahodin station at the time of the attack, described the incident as "terrifying." In an interview with The New York Times, Petraeus said, "This is the act of a truly barbaric leader who is trying to terrorize Ukrainian civilians."
In a statement, Ukrainian Railways stated that the train "left the station earlier than planned due to a change in the schedule...due to constant threats of Russian attacks." It also stated that the order to evacuate passengers from the stricken train was issued "just 15 minutes" before the Russian jet-powered drone attack. Both Ukrainian and Polish authorities said the Russian drone hit a target two kilometers from the Polish border.
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who also attended the conference in Kiev, told the BBC that passengers on his train were told to prepare to evacuate, before later being allowed to continue their journey.
"On the train I was on, we were ordered to prepare to evacuate after the train stopped. However, after a few minutes, we were informed that the danger had passed and we could continue our journey," he said.
That train then arrived safely at the Polish border station of Dorohusk.
Boris Johnson: "Perverted logic"
According to some reports, Bilt was on the same train as Johnson, but the former British prime minister did not confirm any details. Johnson wrote on Platform X: "I don't know what kind of twisted logic led Putin to blow up a Ukrainian locomotive that was standing on the Polish border this morning."
He said it was "the kind of random and senseless attack that Ukrainians suffer every day - even on civilian railways" and called on Kiev's allies to urgently provide Ukrainians with "the air defense systems they need".
Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to allies - especially the US - to provide more interceptors to defend against daily Russian attacks that increasingly use fast ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha said that the "barbaric attacks" on the border of Ukraine and Poland, near the town of Yagodin, represent "Putin's terror that is directly 'knocking' on the doors of the EU and NATO", and he again called for the introduction of additional sanctions on Moscow.
"Putin must understand that his barbarism will be met with decisive measures that will increase the cost of war to an unacceptable level for him. That is the only way to stop it," he said.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk held an emergency meeting to discuss the latest developments.
"The escalation of the activities of the Russian side is becoming a reality, and they are getting closer and closer to our border."
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