Poland says two Turks arrested following fire at Russia-linked Starlink station | Cybersecurity News

Warsaw says the two suspects detained in Germany will be charged with sabotage.

Two Turkish citizens have been arrested in Germany following a fire at a Starlink station in central Poland, which Warsaw called an act of sabotage carried out in the name of Russia.

Polish authorities announced the arrests on Monday, a month after the fire, which they said was aimed at disrupting internet services, including for the Ukrainian military. The fire, which occurred in Mazovia, eastern Poland, ravaged the Starlink station’s electrical system and emergency generator.

Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said the two men would be charged in Poland with sabotage on the instructions of a foreign intelligence agency. German police carried out these arrests on behalf of Polish services, according to Deutsche Welle. Polish authorities did not say where or when the men were arrested in Germany.

“We have no doubt that Russian services are behind this act of sabotage,” Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said at a press conference. “It should be added that Russian services are increasingly turning to individuals linked to the criminal world,” he said.

The case is the latest in a series of incidents that European Union officials say are part of a Russian campaign of sabotage and hybrid attacks aimed at eroding support for Ukraine.

The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has previously dismissed similar accusations as baseless and the product of anti-Russian hysteria.

The Ukrainian military relies on tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and occasional drone operations. Starlink founder Elon Musk activated the service over Ukraine in 2022, days after Russia’s full-scale invasion, following a call from kyiv. Poland said it was paying for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription.

Musk has since clashed with Ukrainian officials over his views on the war. This year, he also agreed to disable thousands of Russian “gray market” Starlink terminals in Ukraine, causing problems for Russian forces. Ukraine is now seeking to use these terminals to carry out attacks on Russian territory.