A gang from Turkey may have carried out an arson attack on a Starlink station in Poland on behalf of Russian intelligence, targeting infrastructure serving Ukraine’s military, the German Der Spiegel magazine reported on Friday.
Two Turkish citizens detained in Germany over the attack may belong to the Daltonlar, a crime group that originated in İstanbul and operates across Europe, or have acted on instructions from people connected to the gang, the magazine’s account indicates.
The fire broke out on September 23 at a ground station in Wola Krobowska, about 30 miles south of Warsaw, damaging its power supply and generator.
The facility resumed operations after the attack, which caused no injuries.
Starlink, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, provides internet connections through satellites, allowing Ukrainian troops to communicate and coordinate operations even where telephone networks and cables have been damaged since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The station in Poland helps carry internet traffic to Ukraine, making its infrastructure relevant to the country’s defense.
The two suspects, identified as Ümit E., 38, and Müslüm T., 34, were detained October 12 in Nürtingen, near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany, under European arrest warrants issued at Poland’s request.
Polish prosecutors accused the men of sabotage and working for a foreign intelligence service on October 7, and a German court ordered their detention October 13 while proceedings to transfer them to Poland continue, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) announced on Friday.
Security camera footage showed two masked people crossing the station’s fence, pouring a flammable liquid and setting fire to equipment controlling its electrical installation before leaving about three minutes later, the agency’s account indicates.
Investigators gathered DNA, fingerprints and camera footage and traced the suspects’ journey from Germany to Poland and back.
Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s minister overseeing intelligence services, has blamed Russian intelligence for the attack and warned that Moscow increasingly recruits people connected to criminal networks.
The suspects’ alleged Daltonlar ties were also the subject of an investigation by German public broadcaster ARD and its STRG_F program, although whether a Russian intelligence service ordered this attack has not been established.
The gang’s alleged leader, Beratcan Gökdemir, who uses the name “Can Dalton,” was detained in Russia in 2024 but was not extradited despite Turkey’s requests.
German security officials suspect Moscow may have protected Gökdemir in anticipation of services in return, although his current whereabouts are unclear, Deutsche Welle reported, citing Spiegel.
Daltonlar, whose name refers to the Dalton brothers in the “Lucky Luke” comics, is among the crime networks Turkish officials describe as “new generation” gangs, which recruit young people through social media and publicize their weapons and attacks online.
The networks have been linked to murders, extortion and weapons trafficking in Turkey and Europe, while their shifting alliances and local offshoots can make membership difficult to establish.
An İstanbul court sentenced senior Daltonlar figures Bahadır Akdağ and Zafer Boyun to 12 life terms each in December 2025 in a case involving 362 defendants.
Turkey also froze assets belonging to 399 suspects in a Daltonlar investigation announced in August, as part of investigations into four crime groups.
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