Bulgaria issues arrest warrants for two Germans over Starlink sabotage

Bulgaria’s Sofia court on Monday issued European arrest warrants for two 19‑year‑old German nationals, accusing them of setting fire to a cluster of Starlink antennas on the evening of 9 October. Prosecutors say the teenagers entered Bulgaria from Serbia in a car with German plates, posed as tourists and spent only a few hours in the area before the sabotage took place.

The case comes as Ukraine relies heavily on Starlink’s military‑grade “Starshield” service for battlefield communications amid Russia’s invasion. Bulgaria does not share a border with Ukraine, but its Black Sea coast sits on a strategic front line in the conflict. Last week, a similar sabotage in central Poland – a country that does border Ukraine – led to the arrest of four suspects in Germany. Polish officials blamed Russia, calling the act “hybrid warfare,” and suggested links between Russian operatives and organized crime groups in Germany. Lithuania’s prime minister has also hinted at Russian involvement in an arson attempt on a Starlink‑related facility in the Baltic region.

According to prosecutors, the Sofia incident damaged 18 antennas in a mountainous area south of the capital. Three were destroyed completely, two were partially burned and three suffered additional damage. The head of Bulgaria’s domestic intelligence agency, Plamen Tonchev, said the evidence points to deliberate sabotage and warned that similar attacks could occur again. German police have already detained three men and a woman, two of them Turkish nationals, in connection with the Polish sabotage, underscoring a growing pattern of attacks on satellite communications that aid Ukraine’s defence.

The next step for Bulgarian authorities is to coordinate with German law‑enforcement agencies to bring the suspects to trial. The warrants signal a broader effort to protect critical communications infrastructure across Europe as the war in Ukraine drags on. If the suspects are extradited and convicted, it could deter further sabotage attempts and tighten cooperation among NATO members on security threats that blend state actors and organized crime.