Poland says two Turks arrested over Russia-linked Starlink station fire

Warsaw says the 2 suspects held in Germany will face sabotage charges.

Starlink devices in Ukraine connect servicemen of the 155th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the internet [File:Pierre Crom/Getty Images]

Two Turkish citizens have been detained in Germany over a fire at a Starlink station in central Poland that Warsaw has branded an act of sabotage carried out on Russia’s behalf.

Polish officials announced the arrests on Monday, one month after the fire, which they say was aimed at disrupting internet services, including for Ukraine’s military. The fire, in Masovia in Eastern Poland, engulfed the Starlink station’s power system and backup generator.

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Polish Minister of Interior Marcin Kierwinski said the two men would face charges in Poland of carrying out sabotage on the instructions of a foreign intelligence agency. German police made the arrests on behalf of Polish services, according to Deutsche Welle. Polish officials did not say where or when in Germany the men were detained.

“We have no doubt that Russian services are behind this act of sabotage,” Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said in a news conference. “It is worth adding that Russian services are increasingly turning to individuals linked to the criminal underworld,” he said.

The case is the latest in a string of incidents that officials across the European Union deem to be part of a Russian campaign of sabotage and hybrid attacks aimed at eroding support for Ukraine.

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

Ukraine’s 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 plea from Kyiv. Poland has said it pays for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription.

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

华沙方面表示，在德国被拘留的两名嫌疑人将面临破坏罪指控。

在乌克兰，Starlink 设备将乌克兰武装部队第 155 旅的官兵连接到互联网。[图片：Pierre Crom/Getty Images]

两名土耳其公民因涉嫌在波兰中部一座星链基站纵火而被德国拘留。华沙方面称这是一起受俄罗斯指使的破坏行为。

波兰官员周一宣布了逮捕行动，距离火灾发生已过去一个月。他们称，这场火灾旨在破坏互联网服务，包括乌克兰军方的互联网服务。火灾发生在波兰东部的马佐夫舍省，吞噬了星链基站的电力系统和备用发电机。

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波兰内政部长马尔钦·基尔温斯基表示，这两名男子将在波兰面临指控，罪名是受外国情报机构指使实施破坏活动。据德国之声报道，德国警方代表波兰方面实施了逮捕行动。波兰官员没有透露这两名男子在德国的哪个地点或何时被拘留。

“我们毫不怀疑，俄罗斯情报部门是此次破坏活动的幕后黑手，”俄罗斯联邦特别事务部长托马什·谢莫尼亚克在新闻发布会上表示。“值得一提的是，俄罗斯情报部门越来越多地将目光转向与犯罪集团有关联的人员，”他补充道。

这是欧盟官员认为的一系列事件中的最新一起，这些事件都是俄罗斯旨在削弱对乌克兰支持的破坏和混合攻击行动的一部分。

俄罗斯驻华沙大使馆尚未对此事作出回应。莫斯科此前曾驳斥类似指控，称其毫无根据，是反俄歇斯底里的产物。

乌克兰军方依靠数万个星链终端进行战场通信和偶尔的无人机作战。星链创始人埃隆·马斯克在基辅方面提出请求后，于2022年俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰几天后，在乌克兰境内启用了这项服务。波兰曾表示，乌克兰的星链订阅费用由其支付。

此后，马斯克因其对战争的看法与乌克兰官员发生冲突。今年，他还同意关闭乌克兰境内数千个俄罗斯“灰色市场”星链终端，给俄军造成了麻烦。乌克兰目前正试图利用这些终端对俄罗斯领土发动袭击。