A Starlink ground station caught fire under suspicious circumstances in Poland

On the evening of September 23, a fire broke out at a Starlink ground station in the village of Volia-Krobovska in the Masovian Voivodeship. Polish authorities suspect the fire may have been set intentionally.

 

It is reported that on the evening of September 23, the owner of the property where the communications infrastructure is located called the emergency services and reported that the antennas were on fire.

A power generator was also damaged. Firefighters arrived at the scene and managed to extinguish the fire.

Preliminary findings by the authorities indicate that the substation was likely set on fire. A second possibility being considered is a short circuit in the electrical system.

According to Poland’s Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Hawkowski, there are strong indications that this fire was a deliberate attempt to disrupt the station’s operations.

“The station is operated by Exatel—a state-owned telecommunications operator that plays a key role in ensuring internet security and providing internet access, including to Ukraine,” he said.

The Polish minister explained that any disruptions in the operation of such stations would cause interruptions in the provision of internet services and, as a result, also in the operation of ATMs, among other things.

“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,” added Gawkowski.

This ground station, along with a similar station near Kaunas, Lithuania, provides internet access to a significant portion of Central and Eastern Europe.

RMF24 reports on this.

Earlier, the SBU detained two men in Lviv for registering Starlink accounts for Russians.

Meanwhile, Trump set a condition for Ukraine’s use of Starlink during strikes against Russia.

And Tusk announced the creation of a Polish counterpart to Starlink.