A fire tore through a Starlink satellite communications station in central Poland overnight, and officials called it deliberate “sabotage.”
Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the blaze was designed to disable the station and cut internet access for key institutions.
He told public broadcaster TVP Info that the disruption specifically targeted connectivity used by the Ukrainian army, though the station remained operational.
"This act of sabotage was deliberately designed to disable the station ... disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army," Gawkowski said.
Gawkowski said the investigation was ongoing, but "many indications suggest that it fits into this new Russian doctrine of attack" and "we are dealing with an element of the next phase of hybrid warfare."
The station is owned by state telecoms firm Exatel and carries internet traffic through Poland, including links reaching into Ukraine.
It also supports SpaceX systems that provide connectivity through Starlink terminals, widely used across Ukraine's front lines and beyond.
Investigators are still working to determine the exact cause of the fire, which broke out late on Wednesday night.
Poland scrambles jets to ‘protect’ airspace
Poland, a NATO and European Union member on the alliance's eastern flank, has repeatedly accused Russia of “sabotage” since 2022.
Since Moscow's full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, Poland has become the principal hub for Western military and humanitarian aid reaching Kiev.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia was preparing hybrid drone and missile strikes against Kiev's allies.
Separately, Poland's air force announced that it carried out preventive operations Thursday morning tied to Russian missile strikes on Ukraine, the army said.
"These measures are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to threatened regions," the army said, noting that “no violations were ultimately recorded.”
Poland expects US base decision
Poland expects Washington to decide by year's end on a new permanent US military base on its soil, a senior defence official said on Wednesday.
Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said the US review of European forces should conclude in November or December, per TVP World.
"The final decision, of course, belongs to (US) President (Donald) Trump, and we keep repeating that," she told reporters in Washington.
Poland has drawn up a shortlist of potential sites, while Marcin Przydacz, head of Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s International Policy Bureau, said a political-level decision had already been reached.
US Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby says Washington is "actively working" to strengthen its presence in Poland as he oversees an ongoing review.
