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Two Turkish Suspects Arrested for Starlink Arson in Poland

By Drooid · Oct 19, 2026, 11:31 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Lithuania PM reports arson

Lithuania Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius reported a failed arson attempt on a Starlink storage site.
Polish Minister Tomasz Siemoniak announced two Turkish nationals were arrested for arson at a Starlink ground station.
Bulgaria’s Sofia City Court issued European arrest warrants for German nationals S.I. and T.B. for burning eight antennas on Oct. 9.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Russia could intensify hybrid sabotage attacks before Christmas.

Summary

German authorities detain Turks

German authorities detained two Turkish nationals, Ümit E. and Müslüm T., on Oct. 12 at Poland’s request.
Polish officials allege the Daltons followed instructions from Russian intelligence services.
German intelligence warned Moscow could use organized-crime networks to sabotage Ukrainian military Starlink links.
Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the fire aimed to disrupt Ukrainian communications, though the station stayed online.

Summary

Lithuania PM convenes

Lithuanian Prime Minister convened the National Security Commission on October 19 to address the arson and drone incident.
Security services warned the data-center operator two days earlier, prompting increased guard presence.
NATO sent two Italian Eurofighter jets after detecting the unidentified aerial object over Lithuania.
Debris damaged a civilian vehicle near Juodžionys, leading to a temporary Kaunas Airport suspension.
Authorities are considering expanding agency powers to neutralise drones after the incidents.

History

Historical Context

During the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russian-linked Sandworm used BlackEnergy malware to breach three Ukrainian power distributors on 23 December 2015, cutting electricity to about 230,000 households for up to six hours. It followed 2013 protest cyber attacks and the 2014 election hack, reinforcing a Russian sabotage pattern.

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Lithuania PM reports arson

Lithuania Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius reported a failed arson attempt on a Starlink storage site.
Polish Minister Tomasz Siemoniak announced two Turkish nationals were arrested for arson at a Starlink ground station.
Bulgaria’s Sofia City Court issued European arrest warrants for German nationals S.I. and T.B. for burning eight antennas on Oct. 9.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Russia could intensify hybrid sabotage attacks before Christmas.

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