Polish court issues European arrest warrants for Ukrainians suspected of railway sabotage
The District Court in Warsaw (Poland) has issued European arrest warrants for Ukrainian citizens Yevheniy Ivanov and Oleksandr Kononov, it is believed that both suspects in railway sabotage fled to Belarus, Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP) reported on Thursday.
Last Thursday, the court granted the prosecutor's request and placed the men under temporary arrest. In turn, on Friday, the Warsaw police published wanted letters for them. According to the criminal case, this allowed them to be prosecuted on the basis of a European arrest warrant and an Interpol red notice.
The wanted 41-year-old Yevhen Ivanov was born in Estonia, and 39-year-old Oleksandr Kononov was born in Ukraine.
The men are suspected of damaging the tracks with an explosive device near the village of Mika in Masovian Voivodeship, as well as in a second incident that occurred near Puławy in the village of Holub, also on railway line No. 7, connecting Warsaw with Dorohusk. There, part of the contact network was damaged and metal elements were installed on the tracks, which could also have caused the train to derail. These actions caused an immediate danger of a land transport disaster in the form of train derailment, which posed a threat to the life and health of many people and large-scale property.
As previously reported, on November 28, the Polish National Prosecutor's Office launched a search warrant for the arrest of 41-year-old Yevhen Ivanov and 39-year-old Oleksandr Kononov, Ukrainian citizens suspected of sabotage on the railway, the PAP agency reported on Friday, citing the spokesman for the National Prosecutor's Office, Przemysław Nowak.
On November 19, two Ukrainians were formally charged in Poland with sabotage of a terrorist nature. Their names were not publicly disclosed, only their first names. The men, who worked for Russian intelligence and fled to Belarus, face life imprisonment. On November 19, a note was handed over to the Belarusian chargé d'affaires requesting the extradition of both men.
According to media reports, the Ukrainians suspected of blowing up the railway track between Lublin and Warsaw on behalf of Russia are allegedly named Yevhen Ivanov and Oleksandr Kononov, they entered Poland with false documents and spent only a few hours in the country.
