Poland has formally asked Belarus to extradite the two Ukrainian citizens accused of carrying out the railway sabotage on behalf of Russia. The men fled to Belarus after two incidents on Sunday, including a railway explosion on a key route to Ukraine.
Polish prosecutors have charged the men, identified as Oleksandr K. and Yevhenii I., in absentia with sabotage on the country’s rail network. The extradition request was delivered to the Belarusian charge d’affaires in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Relations between Warsaw and Minsk, already strained since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, have worsened further. Poland has announced it will close the last Russian consulate in its territory and deploy thousands of soldiers to protect infrastructure. Belarus has not yet responded to the extradition request.
Polish police at the border with Belarus // Shutterstock