Starlink ground station in Poland hit by fire in suspected arson attack

A ground station used by Starlink and owned by Polish state operator Exatel in Wola Krobowska, just south of Warsaw, was struck by a deliberately set fire at about 9 p.m.; firefighters responded and police plus Internal Security Agency (ABW) officers were dispatched as investigators treated the blaze as arson. The facility routes internet traffic across Poland and into Ukraine and, together with a site in Lithuania, supports Starlink’s connections for Central and Eastern Europe. Officials stressed the tactical importance of such ground stations for linking satellites to terrestrial networks and noted Starlink terminals’ critical role in Ukraine’s connectivity during the war.

Senior ministers framed the incident as part of a broader pattern of hostile activity: Digital Affairs Minister and deputy prime minister Krzysztof Gawkowski described the “modus operandi” as clearly Russian and called it another element of hybrid warfare intended to paralyse critical infrastructure and sow panic. Security spokespeople and the justice minister confirmed evidence points to arson while cautioning that attribution remains under investigation. The fire follows other suspicious blazes at defence-related facilities and recent Russian airspace violations, reinforcing government warnings of escalating sabotage and hybrid operations targeting Poland and the region.