Starlink ground station in Poland gutted by fire, officials suspect arson

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, a fire broke out at a ground station in the Polish village of Wola Krobowska, just south of Warsaw, used by Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Firefighters were called out at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday; on suspicion that the blaze was deliberate, police and officers from the Internal Security Agency (ABW) were later dispatched to the scene.

Deputy prime minister and digital affairs minister Krzysztof Gawkowski told broadcaster TVN that this was an arson attack aimed at critical telecommunications infrastructure affecting internet operations. In his words, "the modus operandi in this case is clearly Russian" and it is "another element of the hybrid warfare we are facing."

Connectivity for the region and Ukraine

The facility is owned by Polish state operator Exatel and, as the minister noted in a separate interview with TVP, carries internet transmission through Poland, including to Ukraine. Other providers use Exatel's infrastructure too, among them SpaceX. Starlink terminals have been vital for Ukraine during Russia's war. According to the outlet Defence24, ground stations link the satellite constellation with terrestrial networks; the Polish site, together with one in Lithuania, serves the whole of Central and Eastern Europe.

"The Russians want to paralyse critical infrastructure, cut off water, gas and electricity, paralyse the internet," Gawkowski said. "All these processes have one goal: to incite panic and stir up emotions."

Still, speaking to TVP, the minister conceded that for now "it is impossible to say" for sure whether Russia was behind the attack. Security services spokesman Jacek Dobrzyński likewise said it was "too early" to discuss causes or motives, though "everything points to arson." Justice minister Waldemar Żurek added that sabotage could not be ruled out.

One of a series

Poland has been called the primary target of Russia's sabotage campaign in Europe. Earlier this month, a fire broke out at a drone plant belonging to WB Electronics, which supplies the Ukrainian and Polish armed forces; Prime Minister Donald Tusk said there was "no doubt" it had been set deliberately and that Russia was likely responsible. On the same day the Wola Krobowska station burned, a Russian helicopter briefly violated Polish airspace, and earlier, in July, a Russian missile entered Polish territory and landed in a field in the east of the country.

Source: Hacker News