Bulgarian authorities have issued European arrest warrants for two German nationals aged 19, accused of setting fire to Starlink antennas near Sofia, the latest in a series of suspected sabotage attacks on satellite infrastructure that Ukraine relies on to defend itself against Russian jet-powered drones.
The Sofia City Court granted the request from the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office, which is seeking to have the pair held in custody, Bulgaria’s state news agency BTA reported.
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Both men were charged in absentia on Oct. 14 and could face from three to 12 years in prison if convicted. The ruling can be appealed within three days.
Under German privacy rules, the suspects have been identified in German media only by their initials, S.I. and T.B.
German authorities, however, say the suspects’ current whereabouts are unknown.
A 6-hour visit turns into 8 burned antennas
The pair, according to the prosecutors, set eight Starlink antennas on fire at a site in Plana, a village 30-40 kilometers southeast (18-25 miles) of the Bulgarian capital, on Oct. 9.
They entered Bulgaria from Serbia through the Kalotina border checkpoint at 5:37 p.m. local time on Oct. 9 in a German registered car, telling border officers they were visiting as tourists.
Wearing gloves and masks, they allegedly set fire to the antennas at the Plana Teleport facility (a modern ground-based satellite communications station) at about 10:25 p.m.
According to BTA, three antennas were completely destroyed, two were partially damaged and three others were affected as well.
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Around 11:55 p.m. local time, the pair reportedly crossed back into Serbia through the same checkpoint.
Defense disputes identification
The suspects’ court-appointed lawyers argued that investigators had identified the car, but not the men inside it.
“It may ultimately turn out that these are not the people who committed the criminal act,” said Zhanet Manasieva, a court-appointed lawyer for one of the defendants.
The court rejected those objections, finding reasonable grounds to suspect the two were involved. However, both lawyers said they would appeal.
Plamen Tonchev, head of Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security (DANS), has told lawmakers he believes the fire was sabotage and warned that further attacks cannot be ruled out, German news outlet dpa reported.
Political row in Sofia
According to BTA, the attack became public only on Oct. 12, when opposition lawmaker Ivaylo Mirchev of Democratic Bulgaria revealed it on Facebook.
He put the damage higher than the prosecutors did, saying two masked men had set fire to 11 of the site’s 17 antennas.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who repeatedly rejects accusations of being pro-Russian, told the parliament on Oct. 14 that Bulgaria was working with partner services and asked security chiefs not to disclose details.
After Monday’s ruling, Mirchev demanded that Radev explain what had been achieved and who bore responsibility. “Need we remind everyone that for three days the Interior Ministry and the security services kept silent and concealed the incident,” he wrote on Facebook, BTA reported.
A wider campaign of sabotage
On Sept. 23, a fire damaged antennas and a generator at a Starlink ground station in Wola Krobowska, south of Warsaw, RMF reported. The facility, run by Polish state operator Exatel, helps provide internet access across both Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine.
The suspects, according to dpa, were arrested in Nürtingen, near Stuttgart in Germany, on Oct. 13.
Warsaw suspects Russian intelligence was behind the attack.
On Oct. 17, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reiterated his previous warning that Russia may escalate hybrid attacks, sabotage, and border provocations against Poland and the Baltic states before Christmas.
According to him, the risks would be particularly acute around borders and railway lines used to transport essential supplies to Ukraine, including gas, oil and food.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Oct. 18 that someone had tried overnight to set fire to a company storing Starlink equipment, but failed because security services had warned the company in advance.
“Our services are very closely monitoring the activities of hostile states and are taking measures to protect people and their property,” he wrote on Facebook.
The attacks come as Ukraine’s access to the network is already under strain by the escalating tensions with the US.
Overnight on Oct. 13-14, aerospace giant SpaceX tweaked the parameters for Ukraine’s Starshield, disrupting the country’s drone operations. Around the same time, Ukrainian authorities also reported that they hadn’t received a partner warning about Russian ballistic missiles.
Although SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed that the US military and US President Donald Trump set speed limits on the terminals, not the company, Trump denied that account.
“I don’t know if it was somebody, because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump told reporters. “And, as far as I understand, everything is the same as it’s always been.”
On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that Ukrainian units were still losing satellite connections, adding that the equipment stopped working at 130-160 km/h (81-100 mph) along various parts of the front.
On that same day, US Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, warned that anyone who tries to restrict Ukraine’s use of Starshield will face accountability, including a full investigation, public hearings and steep budget cuts.