The key facts

  • The infrastructure ministry's draft amendment expands SOK's powers to combat drones
  • The basis is sabotage on the Warsaw–Lublin line in November 2025
  • According to Tusk, two Ukrainians working with Russian intelligence were behind the attacks

New powers for railway security

Poland plans to give its Railway Security Service (SOK) the authority to neutralize drones threatening railway infrastructure. A draft amendment to the railway transport law, prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure and published by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister on Friday, expands SOK's powers: the service will gain the right to use devices capable of destroying or disabling unmanned aerial vehicles. The railway security's powers will be brought closer to those of other security services, including equipment specifically designed to counter drones.

Expanded rights to use weapons and pursue suspects

The draft also expands the circumstances under which railway guards may use firearms, including to destroy or disable drones in cases provided for by aviation legislation. In addition, it is proposed to expand the service's rights to record its interventions and pursue suspects across private territory. The government said the changes are aimed at adapting SOK's powers to 'modern threats' and strengthening the protection of railway infrastructure, which is considered part of Poland's critical infrastructure.

Context: sabotage on the Warsaw–Lublin line

The measure follows a deterioration in the security situation of Poland's railway network after sabotage in November on the Warsaw–Lublin line. Explosives damaged a section of track near Mika, and another incident near Puławy involved damage to the overhead contact line and the placement of a metal clamp on the rails, which, according to the authorities, looked like an attempt to derail a train. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time that two Ukrainian citizens who had cooperated with Russian intelligence were behind the attacks, and called them among the most serious acts of sabotage in Poland since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Concerns over drones and hybrid threats

Concerns about the use of drones near sensitive infrastructure have also been growing: a parliamentary inquiry in July cited cases of drone flights near railway facilities and raised the question of the powers of the police and other services when drones operate near strategically important sites. The draft amendment appeared amid increasingly insistent warnings from Warsaw that Russian sabotage, cyber operations and other hybrid activity pose a direct threat to Poland and NATO countries.