A fire destroyed 11 of 17 antennas at a Starlink satellite internet facility near Sofia, Bulgaria on October 9, according to the pro-Western opposition alliance Democratic Bulgaria (DB). Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed the incident on Wednesday, though he declined to provide additional details citing ongoing investigations.
The facility is privately owned but plays a strategically important role in Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion, according to the source. DB stated the antennas were deliberately set on fire and were being used in the war in Ukraine.
Two men aged 20 and 21, both holding German passports, were detained in Bulgaria on Monday in connection with the suspected attack, according to Bulgarian media reports citing investigators. According to news outlet Faktor.bg, the suspects have migrant backgrounds and entered Bulgaria legally from Greece through the Kulata border crossing.
Investigators are examining whether the two suspects belonged to a larger sabotage network potentially linked to two men arrested in Germany earlier this week over a recent attack on a Starlink facility in Poland, Faktor.bg reported.
A separate fire broke out at a Starlink ground terminal south of Warsaw on September 23. Two suspected saboteurs accused of carrying out that attack were arrested on Tuesday in Nürtingen, near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. The government in Warsaw suspects Russian intelligence services were behind the Polish attack.
Pro-Western opposition parties in Bulgaria said they suspected Russia was linked to the Bulgarian attack. Plamen Tonchev, head of Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security (DANS), characterized the fire as an act of sabotage and warned that “such acts of sabotage cannot be ruled out in the future either.”
Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told parliament that additional security measures had been introduced at similar facilities, though he noted that responsibility for their protection rested with their owners.
Key facts
- 11 of 17 antennas at the Starlink facility near Sofia were destroyed in the October 9 fire
- Two German passport holders aged 20 and 21 were detained in connection with the attack
- A similar attack occurred at a Starlink facility in Poland on September 23
- Two suspects in the Poland attack were arrested in Germany on Tuesday
- Bulgarian and Polish officials suspect Russian involvement