Key Train Line from Warsaw to Lublin, Home of 2025 European Championships, Rocked By Explosion

An explosion on a rail line between Warsaw and Lublin, Poland, on Sunday was caused by “an unprecedented act of sabotage,” the country’s prime minister said. The line was expected to be a key link for athletes arriving in Lublin for next month’s European Short Course Swimming Championships.

This train route was listed as the primary planned method of arrival for athletes into the country, landing at the Warsaw Airport and taking the train to Lublin. The photo below is a page of the official team guide sent out by European Aquatics.

While the prime minister Donald Tusk didn’t name Russia directly, the country has faced a number of arson, parcel bombings, and other sabotage attacks in recent years that it views as part of Moscow’s covert war on the West.

The line connects Warsaw, Poland’s capital and largest city, and Lublin, a city of over 300,000 that is a major hub about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border. That rail line was “crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine,” during its ongoing war with Russia, Tusk said.

The damaged train route is used by 115 trains daily, the country’s infrastructure minister said.

There were only two passengers and several staff on board the train hit by the explosion, and no one was hurt.

Investigators were also investigating a second incident of suspected sabotage that forced a packed train to stop suddenly. There was no explosion in that case.

European Aquatics has barred Russia from competition since their February 2022 invasion of Ukraine until recently, when a new World Aquatics ruling that their ‘neutral athletes’ program extend to continental competitions changed the EA policy.

Poland so far has reportedly denied visas to Russian athletes, but the head of Russian Aquatics says that World Aquatics is calling on the country to admit Russian athletes who comply with the ‘neutral athletes’ policies.

That began as a complete ban from most World Aquatics meets to a more recent softening of stance that allows athletes not involved in the war effort to compete under a neutral moniker.

Russian and Belarusian athletes have not, until now, been invited back to European competitions in aquatic sports, with Europe taking a tense posture given the proximity of Russia’s war in Ukraine and rising geopolitical tension by Russian drones into the airspace of other European nations.

The 2025 European Championships are scheduled for December 2-7 in Lublin, which is 15 days away.