Poland accuses Russia of setting fire to a Starlink satellite station in September, and arrests have been made in connection with suspected sabotage. Polish authorities reported this, UNN writes, citing AP.
Details
The suspects, whose names were not disclosed in accordance with Polish privacy rules, were arrested in Germany, Polish officials said Monday. They are accused of deliberately setting fire to Starlink infrastructure on September 23 in Wola-Krobowska, Poland, approximately 40 kilometers south of Warsaw.
"We have no doubt that Russian intelligence services are behind this act of sabotage," Poland’s Minister of Intelligence Services Tomasz Siemoniak said in a press release, noting that Russian intelligence services are increasingly turning to people connected with the criminal underworld.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the incident "another act of hybrid warfare" in a post on X.
According to the Polish outlet RMF24, a third and fourth person who may be connected to the arson attack on the Starlink station in Poland have been detained. According to the information released, one of them is a woman. She was detained in Berlin as part of a separate counterterrorism operation. Today, October 13, a decision is also expected on the extradition of two Turkish citizens who were previously detained to Poland.
The detained woman, the outlet writes, most likely helped with the logistics of the sabotage operation. "Many indications suggest that she was the driver for the previously detained Turkish citizens," the report states.
The Polish prosecutor’s office must now assess this person’s specific involvement in setting fire to the telecommunications facility. After that, they will decide whether there are grounds to request her extradition to Poland.
According to RMF FM, a fourth person has also been arrested in the case. The woman and man who, according to many indications, helped the two Turks remain in the custody of German officers.
The role of the arrested man is being investigated.
Polish investigators are investigating their involvement in this act of sabotage. The detailed results of the investigation will determine whether a decision will be made on their extradition to Poland.
The operator of this station is Exatel, a state-owned telecommunications operator that is one of the providers of internet transmission through Poland to Ukraine, the outlet writes.
One of 210 incidents
The arson attack in Poland in September was one of more than 210 incidents across Europe that Western officials consider sabotage and malicious activity linked to Russia, tracked by the Associated Press since the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Last year, a British court found three men guilty of an arson attack in March 2024 targeting a London warehouse that contained Starlinks for Ukraine. British prosecutors said it had been planned by Russian intelligence services.
According to officials, one of the aims of the attacks is to undermine support for Ukraine, spread fear and discord in European societies, and drain investigative resources. Russia often uses intermediaries for such attacks, and some criminals say they do not know that they were hired by Moscow, the outlet writes.
Technology magnate Elon Musk allowed Ukrainians to use his Starlink satellite communications system in their own territory, including territories occupied by Russia, but restricted the use of the satellite system inside Russia.
Head of Polish intelligence says Ukraine’s allies face almost constant Russian subversive activity
Russian intelligence services are carrying out almost "daily acts of sabotage," Siemoniak said Tuesday at a security conference in Warsaw.
"There is not a week when no activity takes place," he said, adding that the same applies to other European countries and that this activity is directed against countries supporting Ukraine.
He said Russia’s covert malicious activity in Poland began at the start of 2024, when Russia recruited one-time agents on platforms such as Telegram to carry out attacks, including against a shopping center.
"Our enemy—that is, the Russian intelligence services—is changing its methods of operation and has unlimited resources," Semonjak said.