The Kremlin said Monday that Russia would continue striking targets across the "whole" of Ukraine, after it was asked about a rare drone attack near the Polish border rattled Warsaw and its European allies.
NATO-member Poland said Sunday that Russia had struck a railway locomotive inside Ukraine, around two kilometres (one mile) from the countries' shared border, AFP reported.
The attack came just days after Kyiv said Russian forces had hit a crossing on Ukraine's border with Moldova.
The leaders were travelling back to Poland after attending a major security conference in Kyiv when their train was halted around 5am amid a drone alert, according to multiple reports. They were evacuated after a nearby locomotive was struck by a Russian drone.
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‘Whole territory of Ukraine’: Russia
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were on Ukrainian territory.
"If I understand correctly, this is about Ukrainian territory," Peskov said.
{{/usCountry}}"If I understand correctly, this is about Ukrainian territory," Peskov said.
{{/usCountry}}"Our military are fulfilling their tasks on the whole territory of Ukraine... They will continue to do so," he added.
Russia has repeatedly struck western regions of Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, but attacks so close to Ukraine's western borders are rare.
Western Ukraine lies hundreds of kilometres from the frontlines and from the eastern and southern regions that the Kremlin claims as its own.
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Ukraine on Russia's attack on its diplomatic train
Poland, one of Ukraine's main allies, described Sunday's attacks as an "escalation" and convened a special government meeting that evening.
Kyiv and Warsaw both confirmed the attacks and said no-one had been hurt.
Ukraine also said Russia narrowly missed hitting a diplomatic train carrying senior Western officials. Peskov did not comment directly on the reported train strike.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday that Warsaw had earlier received information that Moscow might be planning attacks on border crossings.
"We knew that in the Russian plan there will be an attempt to de-organise, paralyse and maybe even destroy Ukrainian border crossings, which also affects our country," Tusk said.
Last week, Kyiv said Russia had struck a checkpoint on Ukraine's border with Moldova, killing two people.
The European Union, of which Poland is a member, said Monday that the strikes were intended to "scare Western countries from supporting Ukraine".
Russian strike on Warsaw train
NATO chief Mark Rutte, however, said Monday that a Russian strike on a Warsaw-bound train near Ukraine's border with Poland would not deter Kyiv's Western backers.
"The strike on a passenger train in Ukraine yesterday shows how desperate (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has become. He thinks that he can stop us from supporting Ukraine and that he can undermine our unity. He is wrong. Our answer is to increase support," Rutte told journalists.