The Lithuanian prosecutor's office has filed terrorism-related charges against two men detained in Germany at Bulgaria's request for the arson of Starlink antennas near Sofia. They are also accused of attempting to set fire to a ground station of the satellite communications system in Vilnius.
The arson attempt took place on the night of October 18. The fire was extinguished by a security guard before it caused serious damage, and the facility's operation was not interrupted. According to Lithuanian investigators, the two arrived in the country shortly before the incident and left after it.
One of the suspects has Turkish and German citizenship, while the other is a citizen of Serbia and Germany. Both live in Germany. Lithuanian authorities have previously described the incident as an alleged Russian-linked sabotage attempt, possibly aimed at weakening Ukraine's military capabilities. Moscow has dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
Bulgarian investigation
The Vilnius incident is linked to the investigation into an arson attack near the village of Plana, south of Sofia, on October 9. According to the Bulgarian prosecutor's office, Tirpan Beitula and Zeka Islam, both 19 years old, entered Bulgaria through the Kalotina border crossing in a car with German registration. They told border authorities that they were arriving for "tourist purposes."
A few hours later, at around 10:25 p.m., they headed to the communications facility near Plana. According to the investigation, Starlink antennas were set on fire there. Three of them were completely destroyed, two were partially burned, and three more were damaged by the fire.
After the incident, the two left Bulgaria via Kalotina and returned to Serbia. The Sofia City Court approved the issuance of European arrest warrants after the prosecutor's office charged them in absentia with arson.
The two remain in German custody
German authorities arrested the men on October 23 in Duisburg. They are residents of Duisburg and the neighboring town of Moers, respectively. On October 28, the German prosecutor's office confirmed that the two remain in custody while the court in Düsseldorf considers Bulgaria's request for their surrender under the European arrest warrants.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said he expects the suspects to be handed over to Bulgarian authorities. He also said the two were linked to a similar attack in another European Union country, without specifying which one.
The new Lithuanian charges show that the two are being investigated for attacks on communications infrastructure in more than one European country. Similar cases have also been reported in Poland, where authorities also linked an attack on a Starlink site to alleged Russian sabotage activity.
The satellite system of the American company SpaceX is used by the Ukrainian armed forces for battlefield communications and control of drones. European security services continue to clarify whether the individual attacks are part of a coordinated campaign against infrastructure supporting Ukraine.
Sources: news.bg, uk.marketscreener.com, bntnews.bg