As the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself says, his hostile relationship with President Vladimir Putin can be traced back to a conversation at the beginning of 2022, when the Kremlin’s forces were concentrated on the border with Ukraine, notes The Times.
In the 2023 BBC documentary, Putin vs. the West, Johnson reflected on the phone conversation he had with Putin, warning the Russian leader that an invasion would be a “total catastrophe”. Johnson recalled Putin’s reaction.
“At one point, he somewhat threatened me and said: «Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a rocket, it would only take a minute».”
The conversation became very clear after a train in which Johnson was traveling seemed to have survived an attempted strike by a Russian drone.
Although the details are not clear, and Johnson has avoided claiming that it was an assassination attempt on his life, Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway company of Ukraine, suggested that the Kremlin was targeting more than just railway infrastructure. It specified that the intended target could have been the diplomatic train carrying Johnson, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, and other European security officials.
This passed through Yahodyn station before the Russian drone struck a stationary locomotive near the border with Poland. Ukrzaliznytsia stated that the diplomatic train had left ahead of schedule, as timetables were continuously adjusted in response to Russian threats and suggested that it could have been the intended target. According to reports, another train in the station was transporting David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA.
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