MOSCOW, Sept 15: The Kremlin said on Monday it would keep striking targets across the "whole" of Ukraine, when asked about a rare drone attack on the Polish border that has rattled Warsaw and its European allies.
NATO-member Poland said on Sunday that Russia had hit a railway locomotive inside Ukraine, about two kilometres (one mile) from their shared border, just days after Kyiv said it had hit a crossing at its border with Moldova.
Russia has struck western regions of Ukraine throughout the war, which began in February 2022, but attacks so close to Ukraine's western borders are rare.
"If I understand correctly, this is about Ukrainian territory," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, when asked by AFP about the strikes.
"Our military are fulfilling their tasks on the whole territory of Ukraine... They will continue to do so," he added.
Western Ukraine is hundreds of kilometres away from the front, and from the eastern and southern regions that the Kremlin claims as its own.
Poland, one of Ukraine's main allies, said Sunday's attacks were an "escalation" and convened a special government meeting that evening.
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Both Kyiv and Warsaw confirmed the attacks, in which they said no-one had been hurt.
Ukraine said Russia had also narrowly missed hitting a diplomatic train with senior Western officials onboard.
Peskov did not comment on the train strike directly.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday that Warsaw had earlier obtained information that Moscow might be planning attacks on border crossings.
"We knew that in the Russian plan there will be an attempt to de-organise, paralyse and maybe even destroy Ukrainian border crossings, which also affects our country," Tusk said.
Last week, Kyiv said Russia had hit a checkpoint on Ukraine's border with Moldova, killing two people.
The European Union, of which Poland is a member, said on Monday the strikes were intended to "scare Western countries from supporting Ukraine".
-Ukraine train strike shows Putin is 'desperate': NATO chief--
NATO chief Mark Rutte said Monday that a strike by Russia on a Warsaw-bound train near Ukraine's border with Poland would not put off Kyiv's Western backers.
"The strike on a passenger train in Ukraine yesterday shows how desperate (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has become. He thinks that he can stop us from supporting Ukraine and that he can undermine our unity. He is wrong. Our answer is to increase support," Rutte told journalists.
-Russian strike on Ukraine warehouse kills 3: police--
A Russian strike on a warehouse in Ukraine's northeastern Chernigiv region killed three people on Monday, local police said, the latest in a wave of Russian attacks aimed at Ukrainian logistics.
Since June, Russian strikes have destroyed or damaged dozens of warehouses and distribution centres in Ukraine, many of them supplying Ukraine's largest supermarket chains and retailers.
The strikes have led to shortages in some stores and prompted fears of price rises.
Ukrainian police did not give details about the business owner or weapon used in Monday's attack.
"Earlier today, Russian forces attacked the warehouses of an agricultural business in the town of Pryluky. Preliminary reports indicate three people were killed and seven wounded," Ukrainian police said.
An image published by police showed a mound of bricks and rubble in front of a building, its roof partially destroyed.
Russia did not immediately comment, but has in the past denied targeting civilian infrastructure.
Pryluky is a town of about 50,000 people some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Ukraine's capital Kyiv.
