Attack on behalf of Russia?: Starlink in flames: Suspected saboteurs arrested

Warsaw/Nürtingen/Berlin. A spied-out company site, an order to damage property, quick money for a supposedly easy job: cases of espionage and sabotage, presumably on behalf of Russia, repeatedly make headlines. Investigators are now dealing with a case that spans national borders. In Nürtingen near Stuttgart, two men are arrested who are said to have carried out an arson attack on the ground station of the Starlink satellite network in Poland.

The case is an issue at the highest political level. The government in Warsaw says it suspects that Russian secret services are behind the fire. “At the request of the Polish secret services, the German police have arrested two Turkish citizens who are suspected of having set fire to the Starlink station in Mazovia,” wrote Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X. The suspected saboteurs would have to answer to the Polish judiciary.

The State Criminal Police Office in Stuttgart confirms that two Turkish nationals were arrested on Bahnhofstrasse in Nürtingen at the request of Poland - without providing any information about the background. Access was therefore carried out by special forces from the Mobile Operations Command (MEK).

In addition, according to “Bild”, the police in Berlin-Spandau are said to have caught another suspect, possibly the driver of the other two men. The “Schwäbische Zeitung” even reports on another arrest of a woman in Karlsruhe. She is said to have ties to organized crime. However, the authorities have not commented on these two alleged arrests.

One thing is certain: On September 23rd, a fire broke out in a Starlink terminal in Wola Krobowska, 50 kilometers south of Warsaw. Shortly afterwards, the Polish government spoke of a likely act of sabotage against the station, which also ensures the security of Internet operations in Ukraine. Accordingly, the fire affected the power supply station and the power generator.

The “Schwäbische Zeitung” now describes the crime in detail. The men are driven to the Starlink station, pour an accelerant onto a control cabinet and disappear again. According to the information, you only spend a few minutes on the site. According to the newspaper, the two men are 34 and 38 years old. It is said that they were observed for days on their journey to the target of the attack and on their return to Germany.

Starlink is a strategically important part of Ukraine's defense in the war against Russia. The satellite network of Elon Musk's space company SpaceX delivers Internet from space - even where cell phone towers and data lines are missing or destroyed. Starlink is therefore very important for Ukraine: it keeps people in the war zone online and enables the armed forces to exchange information, coordinate missions and support operations.

The two arrested men are to be brought before a judge at the Nürtingen district court later today. Because: The local courts are always responsible for European arrest warrants, explains the Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office. If extradition proceedings are then initiated, the case goes to the Higher Regional Court.

Poland's Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said that once the suspects were brought to Poland, they would be charged with sabotage and working on behalf of a foreign secret service. The Minister for Coordination of Intelligence Services, Tomasz Siemoniak, emphasized that there is “no doubt that Russian secret services are behind this act of sabotage.” These are increasingly relying on people who have connections to the criminal world.

Poland's police chief Marek Boron said that after the arson attack, investigators were able to reconstruct the preparations for the crime and how the perpetrators fled the scene. "We have secured records that point to this specific act. We have fingerprints, DNA traces of the perpetrators as well as information about how they moved, when they entered Poland and when they were flown out of our country," said Boron.

According to him, one of the suspects has Turkish citizenship and is based in Germany. The other person arrested also has Turkish citizenship and there is a deportation order for him in Germany. However, it is hoped that both would be transferred quickly to the Polish authorities.

In view of the increasing threat of espionage and sabotage from Russia, Green Party domestic politician Konstantin von Notz is calling for closer cooperation between European intelligence services. When authoritarian states attack security, prosperity and freedom, recruited “disposable agents” play a crucial role, von Notz told the “Schwäbische Zeitung”. “We also observe that OK structures are often used here.” OK means organized crime.