Poland Calls Fire at Starlink Ground Station an Act of Sabotage

A fire at a Starlink satellite communications ground station in central Poland overnight was an act of sabotage aimed at disrupting internet access, including for the Ukrainian army, Polish Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said Thursday. An investigation into the cause is ongoing, and officials say the incident may fit a broader pattern of hybrid warfare directed at Poland.

Poland, a NATO and EU member state on the alliance's eastern flank, has accused Russia of sabotage on several occasions since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The country 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 such attacks.

The fire broke out late Wednesday at the station in Wola Krobowska. It primarily involved the power station, the distribution board and a generator. Firefighters brought the situation under control, extinguished the blaze and secured the area. No one was injured, and police have taken over further operations. Gawkowski said the station remained operational.

The station is owned by state-owned telecommunications company Exatel and is used 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. "This act of sabotage was deliberately designed to disable the station, disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army," Gawkowski told Polish public broadcaster TVP Info. "There is much to suggest that we are dealing with an element of the next phase of hybrid warfare."

Not all officials went as far. Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, told TVN24 and Zero.pl that police officers were on site conducting inspections and collecting evidence. "Not all arson, not all disasters, are acts of sabotage," he said, adding that various scenarios were under consideration, from deliberate arson to an electrical short circuit. "It's too early to talk about sabotage."

According to Gawkowski, the incident may point to a shift in how Poland's critical communications infrastructure is being targeted. He said that while the investigation into the cause continues, "many indications suggest that it fits into this new Russian doctrine of attack." The minister framed the fire not as an isolated event but as a possible component of an escalating hybrid campaign against Poland and its role in supporting Ukraine.

Police have opened a formal investigation and are collecting evidence at the scene. Officials say various causes remain under consideration, and no conclusion has been reached on whether the fire was deliberate.