German police detained two Turkish citizens suspected of setting fire to a Starlink station in central Poland last month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday, calling the blaze an act of “hybrid warfare.”
“On behalf of Polish services, German police detained two Turkish citizens suspected of setting fire to a Starlink station in Masovia (central Poland),” Tusk wrote on X, adding “this is another act of hybrid warfare.”
He said the suspects would “answer before the Polish justice system.”
Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski confirmed the detentions, saying they resulted from cooperation between Polish police, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) and German services.
He said the charge was “sabotage, espionage on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.”
The station, owned by Poland’s state telecommunications company Exatel, transmits internet traffic through Poland, including to Ukraine, according to Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski. It is also used by SpaceX systems that provide connectivity through Starlink terminals.
The fire broke out overnight in late September, but the station remained operational.
The following day, Gawkowski told public broadcaster TVP Info that “this act of sabotage was deliberately designed to disable the station … disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army.”
Poland, a NATO and EU member on the alliance’s eastern flank, has repeatedly accused Russia of sabotage since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The country has become the main hub for transporting Western military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv.
Last month, Tusk warned that Russia’s plans in its war against Ukraine included “hybrid” drone and missile strikes against Kyiv’s allies.
© Agence France-Presse
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