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Polish officials are treating a fire that broke out at a Starlink ground station in the village of Wola Krobowska south of Warsaw as an act of deliberate sabotage aimed at critical telecommunications infrastructure. The blaze on the evening of Sept. 23 engulfed the facility’s power distribution unit and backup generator at a site owned by state-owned operator Exatel, according to Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski. No injuries were reported and the station resumed full operations shortly afterward, he added in interviews with Polish broadcasters. Internal Security Agency officers and police have taken over the investigation, focusing on evidence that includes a bottle of flammable liquid found at the scene.
Gawkowski told TVN24 and TVP Info that the incident was clearly designed to cut internet connectivity used across the region, including by Ukrainian institutions and military units. While it has not been definitively established that Russia orchestrated the fire, many indications point to alignment with Moscow’s evolving tactics, the deputy prime minister stated. He described the event as part of hybrid warfare, a characterization that Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also applied to similar episodes in recent months, according to a Reuters dispatch.
Poland has maintained heightened vigilance against sabotage since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during which the country has functioned as a primary conduit for Western military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv. The affected Starlink facility forms part of the network activated by SpaceX in the conflict’s early days at Ukraine’s request, a system that has since become essential for battlefield communications there. Gawkowski noted that the station transmits data through Poland and onward to Ukraine, underscoring its strategic value in the ongoing support effort.
Separately on Thursday, Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service released an updated threat assessment that forecasts Russia will intensify hybrid operations against NATO members in the coming months. The agency, known locally as FE, anticipates more frequent attacks with larger impacts than before, encompassing destructive cyberattacks on vital systems such as water supplies and internet services as well as sabotage carrying risks of casualties. Its director, Thomas Ahrenkiel, told a Copenhagen press conference that while a full invasion of a NATO country remains highly unlikely, the service sees a low but increasing chance of limited military strikes on states bordering Russia.
The Danish evaluation follows a series of incidents that have sharpened European concerns, including a German investigation into an alleged Russian-orchestrated drone plot at Leipzig-Halle Airport and a recent confrontation in which a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish military helicopter in the Baltic Sea. FE officials stressed that hybrid actions have shifted from sowing fear and undermining support for Ukraine toward concrete efforts to disrupt supply lines, such as targeting defence manufacturers or transport routes. Denmark’s Resilience Agency concurrently elevated its cyber threat level in response to the assessed risks.
The combination of events illustrates a pattern of suspected Russian hybrid activity across the continent that has prompted repeated denials from Moscow. Polish authorities have documented multiple prior attempts to gather intelligence on critical sites, often involving paid operatives, according to statements from officials monitoring the trend. Both the Polish investigation and the Danish assessment call for reinforced protection of infrastructure that underpins everything from daily communications to military logistics in the region.
