On the evening of Sept. 23, a fire broke out at a Starlink satellite communications ground station in Poland’s Mazowieckie province. Authorities suspect sabotage, according to local publication Onet.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said there were strong grounds to believe the fire was the result of a deliberate attempt to disable the station, which he described as “an Internet hub, also ensuring the security of the Internet in Ukraine.” Gawkowski said the station is operated by state-owned telecommunications company Exatel, which provides communications services across Poland as well as in Ukraine.
“The fire engulfed the power station and the generator; it is clear that this act of sabotage was deliberately designed to disable the station — effectively cutting off the internet connection... and disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian military,” Reuters quoted Gawkowski as saying.
The minister said the attempt to disable the station failed and that the system was operating normally. Gawkowski also said there was no direct evidence linking Russia to the arson, but that "many signs suggest this aligns with Russia's new doctrine of attack".
"While everything is operational today, we must recognise, as Prime Minister Tusk recently noted, that this is an element of hybrid warfare," Gawkowski added.
On Sept. 22, Polish police reported an attempted act of sabotage against railway infrastructure near the village of Jedlanka in Lukow County, where two freight trains traveling in opposite directions struck concrete blocks that someone had placed on the tracks. Neither train derailed, and no injuries were reported.
In late August, a factory owned by Polish defense company WB Electronics, which works closely with Ukraine and produces combat drones, caught fire. In June, the independent outlet Vot Tak published an investigation saying Russian recruiters were actively looking for people to carry out sabotage operations in Poland.
