Poland Opens Terror Case Over Starlink Station Fire

By John Maximus · Published 13 October 2026
Reported from named sources and checked against the publishers linked in this article. Corrections: editorial and corrections policy.

Polish prosecutors have opened criminal proceedings over a fire at a Starlink satellite communications ground station in the village of Wola Krobowska in central Poland, treating it as sabotage and a terrorist-related crime committed in the interests of a foreign intelligence service. The blaze broke out on the evening of 23 September 2026, and prosecutors say there are reasonable grounds to suspect the perpetrators acted on the orders of Russian secret services.

Key facts

• The fire hit a ground station used to route internet traffic through Poland, including traffic to neighbouring Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said in remarks reported by DW.
• The station belongs to Exatel, the Polish state-owned telecommunications company. Outlook India placed the site near Grójec in the Mazowieckie region and described it as an internet hub for traffic passing through the country.
• Prosecution spokesperson Przemysław Nowak said the case covers causing a fire at the station “resulting in significant property damage”, and that on the information then available the fire was caused by arson. His comments went to Polish news agency PAP, in an account carried by Yahoo.
• The aim of the attack, prosecutors say, was to disrupt the operation and internet connectivity of the Starlink system in Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
• “An investigation is underway in this case. No one has been charged so far,” Nowak said.
• The fire engulfed the station’s power system and backup generator, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Why it matters

Starlink terminals do not reach the internet on their own: they connect users to satellites, which pass traffic to ground stations that link it to the wider internet, as Outlook India explained. Damaging one of those stations is an attack on the plumbing behind the satellite internet service rather than on the dishes customers own.

One station, tens of thousands of terminals. Ukraine’s military relies on tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and some drone operations, per the ABC — the service Ukraine depends on — and that traffic has to land somewhere. Gawkowski said knocking out the Polish station could affect connectivity for institutions and for the Ukrainian army. No figure has been attached to the “significant property damage”, and the accounts reviewed here do not say how many other ground stations Poland hosts.

What the government said

Gawkowski, who is also digital minister, told public broadcaster TVP that Poland publicly branded the blaze an act of sabotage. “This act of sabotage was deliberately designed to disable the station … disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army,” he said in the remarks carried by DW. He went on to describe the incident as an element of the next phase of hybrid warfare, and told the ABC’s cited broadcast that there were many indications it fitted what he called Russia’s new doctrine of attack. Responsibility, he said, had not been established.

Accounts of the cause differ

The sources do not line up on how settled the cause was. Outlook India, writing on 24 September, said investigators were still examining whether the fire was deliberately started or resulted from an electrical fault, and that Polish authorities had not established Russian responsibility. The PAP account relayed by Yahoo the following day has prosecutors saying the fire was caused by arson and naming suspected Russian orders.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk was more cautious, telling PAP he does not like to define something as sabotage rather than an accident without complete certainty, while adding that the situation did not look good.

None of the four accounts reviewed here carries comment from Exatel, from SpaceX, which operates Starlink, or from Russian officials on the arson finding; the Polish prosecution service is the only party speaking directly to the criminal case.

Denmark’s warning

Days after the fire, Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service warned that Russia is expected to escalate sabotage and destructive cyberattacks on critical infrastructure across NATO in the coming months — the category the Polish ground station now falls into, Outlook India reported. Danish intelligence chief Thomas Ahrenkiel said likely forms included isolated long-range strikes on infrastructure supporting Ukraine, aimed at dividing NATO rather than seizing territory, the ABC reported.

Background

Poland has been on heightened alert for sabotage since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In April the National Prosecutor’s Office said it had charged five people over sabotage and terrorist offences allegedly carried out for Russian intelligence, in a case covering arson attacks and planned attacks in Poland and other European countries, Outlook India noted; late last year Warsaw accused Russia of “state terrorism” over sabotage on its rail network, per DW.

DW also set out Poland’s exposure: it sits on the EU and NATO eastern flank, bordering Ukraine, the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Moscow ally Belarus, and is among Kyiv’s strongest backers in Europe. Tusk warned earlier in September that Russia plans hybrid drone and missile strikes against Ukraine’s allies.

The ground-station case lands alongside separate warnings from Germany about Russian satellites shadowing Starlink, pointing to scrutiny of the constellation on the ground and in orbit — and it comes despite Elon Musk’s later clashes with Ukrainian officials over his views on the war. Germany has also blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, prompting EU calls for new sanctions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the fire actually knock out Starlink service?

No major interruption to internet services had been reported, according to Outlook India’s account of the incident. Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the station was operating normally again, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, and it added that Ukraine had not publicly commented on whether the fire caused any disruption on its side.

Which agencies are handling the investigation?

The case has been assigned to Poland’s Internal Security Agency and the Central Bureau of Police Investigation, prosecution spokesperson Przemysław Nowak said in comments carried by Polish news agency PAP and reported by Yahoo. Officers from both bodies also took part in the on-site examination and witness interviews with prosecutors.

Has Russia responded to the sabotage allegations?

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in hybrid warfare, sabotage operations in NATO countries or plotting confrontation with the West, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. DW notes Poland and other EU and NATO states have accused Russia of sabotage against Ukraine’s allies since the February 2022 full-scale invasion.

Who pays for Ukraine’s Starlink service?

Poland has said previously that it has been paying for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. It also noted that Elon Musk activated Starlink over Ukraine in 2022 after Kyiv appealed for help in the first days of the full-scale invasion.