Poland says fire at Starlink station is sabotage as Denmark warns of rising Russian threat

Notably, a fire at a Starlink satellite station in central Poland was a deliberate "act of sabotage", the administration has stated.

Key points

• Putin introduced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow at present controls regarding 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.
• Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski remarked the fire in the Masovian Voivodeship province was deliberately designed to disable the station.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly remarked Moscow does not plan to attack Nato states.
• The fire at the state-owned Polish satellite station broke out on Wednesday night in Wola Krobowska.
• In Ukraine, Kharkiv and Kyiv experienced the worst of Russia's attacks overnight into Thursday.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski remarked the fire in the Masovian Voivodeship province was "deliberately designed to disable the station. Disrupting internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army".

He informed Polish public broadcaster TVP Info an investigation was ongoing but "many indications suggest" the attack fits into a "new Russian doctrine of attack". The Kremlin has not commented.

Meanwhile, Denmark's intelligence service issued a new threat assessment saying it expects Russia to escalate hybrid warfare in the coming months.

It remarked an attack remained "highly unlikely" but cautioned of "a low but growing risk" that Russia could launch a limited military attack against Nato countries.

In recent weeks a number of European Nato members have stated Russia may be preparing attacks to test their commitment to supporting Ukraine. It moscow denies.

While France has ordered a plan to protect critical infrastructure and defence industry sites, earlier this month, Germany blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport.

Hybrid warfare or hybrid attacks are loose terms which tend to describe non-military methods designed to exert pressure and destabilise an adversary – for example cyberattacks, sabotage or misinformation.

Proxies are often applied to carry out the attacks and Russia always denies involvement, despite growing evidence to the contrary.

Europe targeted by spiralling campaign of sabotage – and Russia is the chief suspect.

Notably, the fire at the state-owned Polish satellite station broke out on Wednesday night in Wola Krobowska. It remains operational.

In practice, the deputy prime minister remarked it transmits internet traffic through Poland to countries including Ukraine, and uses SpaceX systems that provide connectivity via Starlink terminals.

On Wednesday Poland additionally stated a Russian military helicopter briefly violated its airspace, forcing it to scramble fighter jets.

Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov remarked it was Europe speaking concerning preparing for war, adding: "If Europe attacks Russia, it will be a completely different war, and it will be very short."

In Kharkiv, six individuals were killed and twelve others injured in a Russian strike on a farm in the village of Stara Hnylytsia, Ukraine's state emergency services stated.

It remarked they were agricultural workers sorting vegetables, with the head of the Kharkiv region adding that four were women.

In Kyiv, two individuals were killed and eight others injured overnight, emergency services stated. More than 50 civilian facilities were additionally damaged in the city, including a maternity building.

In practice, the hospital's director remarked a woman provided birth to a baby boy in a shelter during that attack, adding: "Even on such a terrible night, life goes on."

As well as vessels employed by the military, russia's defence ministry remarked it had hit Ukrainian defence facilities, logistics and telecom centres.

While Romania's defence ministry stated one drone crashed in its territory, moldova's president remarked four Russian drones crossed into its airspace, with at least one exploding.

Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine have become more devastating in recent months since of their new jet-powered drones. It are harder to shoot down.

Kyiv is racing to develop low-cost weapons that can counter them as the missiles and fighter jets it has to fight them are too expensive.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remarked, "we need ballistic interceptors to protect lives" and called on the US to assist.

He remarked Putin needed to be ceased from continuing the war and "spreading this evil further", adding: "Putin is always looking for someone who can help him kill more, kill more people for every kilometre of land."

He remarked Ukraine would seek to target the Russian energy sector over the winter.

For context, the Ukrainian president's comments came as Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev headed to the US to meet Trump administration authorities, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Reuters noted, citing two sources.

Russia's Lavrov informed the UN Security Council on Wednesday there would be no pause in the war.

In short, poland says fire at Starlink station is sabotage as Denmark warns of is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.