Polish authorities have accused Russian intelligence services of organizing an arson attack on a Starlink ground station that provided satellite communications, including service used by Ukraine.
The fire broke out on September 23 at the facility in Wola Krobowska, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Warsaw. Flames engulfed the station’s power system and backup generator.
Warsaw Calls Fire a Hybrid Attack
“We have no doubt that Russian intelligence services are behind this act of sabotage,” Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s minister overseeing intelligence services, said in a statement cited by the Associated Press. He said Russian services were increasingly recruiting people with links to the criminal underworld for such operations.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the incident as another act of hybrid warfare. Polish authorities believe the attack was intended to disrupt internet service used in part by Ukraine’s military.
Moscow denies European allegations that it is behind sabotage operations and calls the claims baseless.
Reports Put Number Detained at Four
Polish officials initially said two Turkish citizens had been detained in Germany on suspicion of deliberately setting fire to the Starlink infrastructure.
Polish broadcaster RMF FM later reported, citing unidentified sources, that German police had detained two more people, bringing the total to four. One of those detained was a woman suspected of acting as a driver, according to Reuters.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said it was coordinating the exchange of information between Polish and German authorities in connection with three detainees. Germany’s Interior Ministry and Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately provide additional comment.
The Associated Press said it had identified more than 210 incidents in Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that Western officials attribute to Russian-linked sabotage or other hostile activity. European authorities say the operations are intended to weaken support for Kyiv and strain security services.
Source: Vesti Baku