The Sofia City Court issued European Arrest Warrants on October 19 for two 19-year-old German citizens accused of setting fire to Starlink antennas at the Teleport Plana site near Sofia, according to The Sofia Globe. Prosecutors say the arson was committed on October 9 and that both men have since left Bulgaria, with their whereabouts abroad still unknown, Fakti.bg said, citing Bulgarian National Television.
Key facts
- The fire was set at about 10:25 p.m. on October 9 and 18 antennas were set alight, Fakti.bg reported, citing Bulgarian National Television and the Prosecutor’s Office.
- The indictment says three antennas were completely destroyed, two were partially damaged and three others were otherwise affected by the flames, AP, via Newsday, wrote.
- The two men have been charged in absentia and the court ruling can be appealed, per AP.
- If convicted, they face between three and 12 years in prison, all three outlets said.
- They allegedly entered Bulgaria through the Kalotina border crossing in a car with German registration plates that neither of them owns, stayed a few hours, and left through the same crossing.
Why it matters
The burned gateway antennas are part of the Starlink satellite communications system operated by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s US rocket and satellite company, and have been of strategic importance to the Ukrainian military since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, The Sofia Globe wrote.
What none of the three reports records is any consequence for the satellite internet service itself: there is no mention of an outage, of degraded capacity, or of any change to Starlink availability or pricing for subscribers in Bulgaria or Ukraine. Nor is SpaceX or Starlink quoted anywhere in them, and none of the three indicates that its reporters sought a comment, so the company’s silence cannot be distinguished from a question never asked. For readers whose interest is commercial rather than criminal, where Starlink is available and what the service costs remain unchanged on the public record; the indictment’s damage count is the only published measure of what the site lost.
AP also noted that similar arson attacks, involving torched antennas and the detention of suspects, have happened recently in Poland and Lithuania, and that authorities in those two countries have linked the sabotage to Russia. Separately, Lithuanian authorities have tied a Starlink arson attempt to a wider sabotage pattern.
What prosecutors say happened
In the account the Prosecutor’s Office gave Bulgarian National Television and that Fakti.bg relayed, the two suspects arrived for tourist purposes and were in the country for only several hours. The Sofia Globe put it more bluntly, writing that the pair crossed at Kalotina “posing as tourists”. AP described the attack as planned and executed within just a few hours of the men being in Bulgaria. Neither the timing of their exit nor their route after leaving appears in any of the three reports.
The outlets also differ on the men’s names — Fakti.bg has Tirpan Beitula and Zeka Islam, The Sofia Globe has Zeka Islam and Tirlan Beitullah, AP has Tirpan Beytula and Zeka Islam — a pattern consistent with Bulgarian court documents rendering German passport spellings in Cyrillic and each newsroom transliterating back to Latin script differently. None of the three explains it. The ages do reconcile: Fakti.bg said both were born in 2007, which fits The Sofia Globe’s two 19-year-olds.
A political row in Sofia
The arson only became public after Ivailo Mirchev, a member of parliament for the opposition Democratic Bulgaria, posted about it on Facebook and demanded to know why the authorities had said nothing, The Sofia Globe wrote.
The same outlet said that in Parliament last week, Prime Minister Roumen Radev instructed the head of the State Agency for National Security not to discuss the Plana case on the grounds that it could prejudice the investigation and promised details soon, and that none have followed.
Mirchev questioned the assurances given to MPs after it emerged the suspects had gone. “Answers are due: When did the accused leave the country and when did the services find out?” he asked, as quoted by The Sofia Globe. He noted that Radev said on October 14 that the case was being worked on, and that the Prosecutor’s Office only requested the European Arrest Warrant five days later.
Background: attacks on Starlink ground infrastructure
The Plana mountain attack came days after a similar attack on a Starlink satellite ground station in Poland, The Sofia Globe said, noting detentions in Germany over the Poland fire. Lithuania has also seen recent incidents involving Starlink equipment, including a foiled arson at a Starlink equipment store.
Adding those up — a compilation by this site across the three source reports, not a figure published by any authority or outlet — October has produced four incidents involving Starlink ground equipment in three European countries: the Polish ground-station fire, two cases in Lithuania and the Bulgarian arson. No combined tally of antennas lost or of total financial damage has been released.
The three reports also do not say who ordered or paid for the Plana attack, what the two men’s alleged motive was, or whether the damaged antennas have been repaired or taken out of service. Fakti.bg said the case remains under investigation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What evidence do Bulgarian prosecutors say they have?
The Prosecutor’s Office told Bulgarian National Television that the case file includes security camera recordings that established the departure of the car used, according to Fakti.bg.
Were the two suspects ever in custody?
The Sofia Globe wrote that reports on October 19 said the two suspects, said to have been arrested the previous week, had left Bulgaria. None of the three source reports clarifies whether the men were detained in Bulgaria or elsewhere, and German authorities say they do not know where they are.
Could the fire have spread beyond the antennas?
Yes. Fakti.bg, citing Bulgarian National Television, reported that there was a danger the fire would spread and reach the administrative building at the site.
Has anyone been arrested over the earlier Starlink fire in Poland?
Four citizens were arrested in Germany on suspicion of carrying out the arson at the Starlink satellite ground station in Poland, The Sofia Globe wrote.
Follow Starlink News on Google. Make us a preferred source to see more of our reporting in Google search results.
