A fire that broke out at a Starlink satellite communications station in central Poland overnight is being called an act of “sabotage,” the country’s digital affairs minister said on Thursday.
“This act of sabotage was deliberately designed to disable the station…disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army,” Krzysztof Gawkowski told Polish public broadcaster TVP Info, adding that the fire broke out late on Wednesday and that the station in Wola Krobowska was still operational.
“There is much to suggest that we are dealing with an element of the next phase of hybrid warfare,” he added.
The station, owned by state-owned telecommunications company Exatel, is used, among other things, to transmit internet traffic through Poland, including to Ukraine, according to the minister.
It is also used by SpaceX systems that provide connectivity via Starlink terminals.
Gawkowski said that an investigation was ongoing into the causes of the blaze, “many indications suggest that it fits into this new Russian doctrine of attack.”
The fire primarily involved the power station, the distribution board and a generator. Firefighters brought the situation under control, extinguished the fire and secured the area.
No one was injured and police took over further operations.
But the spokesperson for the Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, Jacek Dobrzyński, told TVN24 and Zero.pl that police officers were working on site, conducting inspections and collecting evidence.
“Not all arson, not all disasters, are acts of sabotage,” he emphasised.
He said that various scenarios were being considered, from deliberate arson to an electrical short circuit.
“It’s too early to talk about sabotage,” he added.
Poland, a NATO and EU member state along the alliance’s eastern flank, has accused Russia of “sabotage” on several occasions since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Poland has become the main hub for transporting Western military and humanitarian support to Kyiv.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia’s plans in the war against Ukraine include “hybrid” drone and missile strikes against Kyiv’s allies.
Moscow has always denied any involvement in these attacks.
Additional sources • AFP