Fire at Polish Starlink Hub Sparks Sabotage Investigation

Polish news outlet TVP World reported that a fire that broke out on Wednesday evening at a ground-based ​Starlink satellite communications station in central Poland, likely to have been the result of a sabotage. The fire damaged the power plant and generator causing the station, which is operated by the Polish state-owned telecommunications company Exatel, losing its internet connections, which disrupted access for several organizations, including the Ukrainian military.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, said the facility in Wola Krobowska, located in the Masovian Voivodeship about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Warsaw, was likely targeted in a sabotage attack. He added that the station has since resumed operations. According to TVP World, Gawkowski warned that the shutdown of such facilities could disrupt internet access and potentially affect ATM networks. “Sometimes we don’t realize that it is precisely this type of telecommunications relay station that determines whether we will have internet access at all in a particular part of Poland, Europe, or Ukraine,” he added. Gawkowski said that local police were investigating the fire, while the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and Central Police Investigation Bureau (CBŚP) have been notified. While Starlink satellites relay data between one another, traffic must ultimately be routed through ground stations to interface with terrestrial networks and data centers. Other Topics of Interest CIA Warns of Potential Russian Drone Strikes From Shadow Fleet Vessels Officials and analysts believe Russia could use small, low-cost Gerbera drones concealed in commercial shipping containers aboard civilian-looking vessels. Although SpaceX does not publicly disclose the location of these gateways, it is known that this Polish ground station and a similar station near Kaunas, Lithuania, provides internet access to significant areas of Central and Eastern Europe. Poland has increased its security alert levels several times since the beginning of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This has included warnings of possible “hybrid warfare” operations aimed at disrupting critical infrastructure and essential services – accusations which Russia continues to deny. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it detained two men in Lviv for attempting to register more than 50 Starlink accounts on behalf of Russian intelligence agencies. Moscow has struggled to maintain battlefield communications after SpaceX agreed to Kyiv’s request of disabling Russian access in early 2026. On Sept. 9 Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw plans to create its own satellite communications system analogous to the Starlink system, saying: “Our goal is to create a Polish Starlink, because we understand how important a sovereign connection is.” It is understood that the Polish state-run defense giant Polish Armaments Group (PGZ) and Finnish microsatellite firm ICEYE signed a letter of intent to build the system which aims to have nine military satellites in Earth’s orbit by the end of 2026. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.