Sam Kiley analysis: Russia will celebrate almost killing Boris Johnson – this is Putin’s plan for chaos

If blowing up a petrol station and railway carriage close to a train carrying two former European prime ministers and the man who used to run America's war in Afghanistan, the CIA - and rewrote US military doctrine - was an accident, it isn’t one the Russians are admitting to in the Kremlin.

Boris Johnson, Carl Bilt - once Sweden’s PM - and general David Petraeus, the “warrior priest” of America’s War on Terror, are tiptop scalps for Vladimir Putin’s collection and his external spy agency, the FSB, will get kudos for nearly taking them.

Johnson, especially, is a national hero in Ukraine. His record in Britain, where he enhanced Russia’s strategic standing by helping take the UK out of Europe, doesn’t worry frontline soldiers in a country that is grateful for his stentorian support from the early days of the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 11:30

Kremlin responds after Boris Johnson’s train in near miss with Russian drone

The former prime minister was alerted at 5am on Sunday as he returned from a security conference in Kyiv after another passenger train behind his was forced to evacuate near Yagodyn, near the Polish border.

Speaking on Monday, a Kremlin spokesperson did not deny that Russia was responsible for the attack, saying its forces would continue to operate across Ukrainian territory.

In a post on X, Mr Johnson wrote: “I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning.”

Maira Butt14 September 2026 11:15

Russian strike on farm warehouse in northern Ukraine kills three, police say

A Russian attack on warehouse facilities belonging to a farming enterprise in the town of Pryluky in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region killed three people, regional police said.

Preliminary information indicated that seven others were injured in the attack, police said on the Telegram messaging app.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 11:00

Watch: Trump asks Zelensky not to target Russian diesel fuel

Maira Butt14 September 2026 10:30

Russian strike on train on Ukraine-Poland border was meant to scare Western states, says EU's Kallas

A Russian drone attack on a train on Ukraine's border with Nato member Poland on Sunday was meant to scare Western countries supporting Ukraine, European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

“I think we should act the opposite. We should show that we are there for Ukraine and we are not scared,” she told reporters in Rovaniemi, Finland where she attended a summit on Arctic strategy.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 10:00

Drone strike on Poland Ukraine border that hit train at Poland-Ukraine border shortly after train carrying Boris Johnson left

A Russian drone attack on a train on Ukraine's border with Nato member Poland on Sunday was meant to scare Western countries supporting Ukraine, European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

"I think we should act the opposite. We should show that we are there for Ukraine and we are not scared," she told reporters in Rovaniemi, Finland where she attended a summit on Arctic strategy.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 09:30

In pictures: Aftermath of a Russian drone strike that hit train after Boris Johnson left Kyiv

The pictures below show the aftermath of a drone strike on the Poland-Ukraine border that hit a train shortly after a train carrying Boris Johnson left Kyiv.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 09:06

Russia has secured ‘near-zero net gains’ since March, says ISW

Nearly all of Russia’s territorial gains this year have been wiped out, according to a new assessment by the Institute for the Study of War.

Ukrainian forces have held Russian forces to “near-zero net gains since March 2026”, read the report.

“The situation remains dynamic, and Russian commanders are reportedly pressing Russian President Vladimir Putin for a massive mobilisation likely aimed at restoring their ability to seize and hold the initiative,” the ISW said.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 08:30

Zelensky asks lawmakers to support removal of prosecutor general

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he was asking lawmakers to support the removal of Ukraine's prosecutor general without delay.

Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who resigned his post last week after a corruption investigation reached his office, had said earlier on Monday he signed a notice of suspicion to the head of Ukraine's top anti-corruption agency.

Maira Butt14 September 2026 08:03

Trump asks Ukraine to stop 'knocking out' Putin's diesel fuel

US president Donald Trump called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage.

He spoke after diesel prices in the US hit a record on Friday, soaring past $6 a gallon on average.

Trump was asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Zelensky following his recent conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He responded by calling on Zelensky to halt strikes against Russia.

“Mr Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open, which is being played at his Doonbeg golf club.

“We spoke to Mr Zelensky about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world,” he said.

Arpan Rai14 September 2026 07:12