(The Turkish Post) – German police detained two Turkish citizens on Oct. 12 at Poland’s request in a Starlink sabotage case, Polish officials said. The men are awaiting transfer to Poland under a European Arrest Warrant, and Polish officials say they will face charges there.
Polish officials say a fire in late September at a Starlink ground station was sabotage carried out for a foreign intelligence agency. Prosecutors say the aim was to disrupt Starlink connections in Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Turkish nationals detained in Germany
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) made the arrests, Polish officials said. The police acted on evidence gathered by Polish police, the ABW domestic intelligence agency and prosecutors.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said German police acted at Poland’s request. Polish officials identified the two men as Turkish citizens. Neither of them has been tried. Polish officials have not published the men’s names, according to the reports reviewed for this story.
Charges and the sabotage claim
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the two would face charges in Poland for sabotage carried out on the instructions of a foreign intelligence agency. He did not name the country.
Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Poland had no doubt that Russian services were behind the fire. Russia has denied the accusations, according to reports.
Poland Starlink fire at Wola Krobowska
The fire broke out in late September at the Starlink ground station in Wola Krobowska, a village in Masovia province. The station is run by Exatel, a state-owned operator, and links Starlink satellites to ground networks. Starlink is the satellite internet service of the American company SpaceX. The Starlink sabotage investigation concerns this station specifically, not the wider Starlink network.
The National Prosecutor’s Office said criminal proceedings had been opened over acts carried out in the interests of a foreign intelligence service against Poland. Its spokesman, Przemysław Nowak, said the fire was caused by arson, based on the information available at the time.
Prosecutors examined the site and interviewed witnesses on Sept. 24. They worked with the Internal Security Agency and the Central Bureau of Police Investigation. No one had been charged at that stage.
Officials urge caution on Starlink sabotage
Polish officials cautioned that not every arson is sabotage. Tusk said he did not want to give a definition without complete certainty about what counts as sabotage and what counts as an accident. The Starlink sabotage label therefore rests on the investigation’s findings, and no court has ruled on it.
Prosecutors suspect Russian secret services ordered the attack. Tusk said on Sept. 25 that Russia’s role had not been proven.
Earlier sabotage on Poland’s rail network
In November 2025, an explosion damaged tracks on the line between Warsaw and Lublin, near the village of Mika. Tusk called it an act of sabotage. He said Poland had identified the people responsible: Ukrainian nationals who collaborated with Russian intelligence and then fled to Belarus.
Tusk said the charge was military-grade C4 explosive, set off through a cable about 300 metres long. He said an earlier attempt to derail a train at the same line, using a clamp fixed to the track, had failed. Tusk also said Belarus and Russia would be asked to extradite the two suspects.
After that attack, Poland sent the army to patrol eastern railway routes. Tusk said the line carried military goods and aid to Ukraine, and that Russia aimed to create disorder and uncertainty in Poland.
Transfer to Poland is pending
Both men are awaiting transfer from Germany under the European Arrest Warrant. The reports did not give a date for the transfer or for any court appearance in Poland. Until then, the Starlink sabotage case remains at the investigation stage in Poland.
