WARSAW, Sept 24 (Reuters) – A blaze at a Starlink station in Poland that engulfed its power system and backup generator on Wednesday evening was an act of sabotage aimed at disrupting internet services, including for Ukraine’s military, a government minister said.
Poland has been on heightened alert for acts of sabotage since Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in such incidents.
“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,” Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said.
He said the station in central Poland was now operating normally. Ukraine has not publicly commented on whether the fire had caused any disruptions on its side.
Gawkowski said it had not been established who was responsible for the fire, 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 (Donald) Tusk recently noted, that this is an element of hybrid warfare,” he said.
Elon Musk activated Starlink services over Ukraine in 2022 after Kyiv pleaded for help in the first days following Russia’s full-scale invasion. Poland has said previously it has been paying for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription.
Despite Musk’s subsequent clashes with Ukrainian officials over his views on the war, Ukraine’s military relies on tens of thousands of Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and some drone operations.
Musk also agreed to turn off thousands of Russian “grey-market” Starlinks in Ukraine this year, causing problems for Russian forces.
Ukraine is now seeking to also use the terminals for attacks on Russian territory.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Pawel Florkiewicz; additional reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Ros Russell)
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