Attack on Satellites - Masked Men Set Fire to 11 Starlink Antennas in Bulgaria

Two masked men deliberately set fire to 11 of the 17 antennas used to connect to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system at a site in the Sofia area.

The damaged antennas provide a key link to Elon Musk’s satellites in space, which are also widely used in the war in Ukraine. This was first announced on Facebook and later in Parliament by Ivaylo Mirchev of Yes, Bulgaria. He and Bozhidar Bozhanov called on the State Agency for National Security (SANS) and the Ministry of the Interior to say whether they had known about the planned attack, and accused the government of remaining silent on the issue.

Ivaylo Mirchev – “Yes, Bulgaria”: “It is no coincidence that these particular antennas were set on fire, as they provide the backbone communications link to these satellites. The same thing happened to the same Starlink antennas in Poland at the end of September. How did the Polish state respond? It informed the public, and swift action followed. As a result, two Turkish nationals have been arrested in the past few hours and accused of carrying out the same kind of arson, but in Poland. The Polish side has no doubt that Russia is behind these acts of sabotage.”

Petar Vitanov—chairman of the “Progressive Bulgaria” parliamentary group: “As for last night’s arson attacks, I don’t have any information and am waiting for more details to be provided. This is not unprecedented; as far as I recall, there was a similar incident in Poland.”