Bulgarian prime minister confirms inquiry into Starlink antenna arson near Sofia

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev told parliament on Wednesday that Starlink ground antennas near Sofia had been targeted by arsonists, confirming an attack that opposition lawmakers had already made public, according to Czech outlets CT24, iDNES.cz and Seznam Zpravy, citing the Sofia Globe. Radev gave no further details and said officials would wait for the investigation's results before attributing blame.

Opposition MP Ivaylo Mirchev wrote on social media on Monday that two masked arsonists had set fire to 11 of the 17 antennas at a secret Starlink facility near Sofia, and said the interior ministry had not reported the incident and media had not covered it until then. Those figures have not been independently confirmed by officials.

Bozhidar Bozhanov, a leader of the opposition Democratic Bulgaria alliance, accused Radev of being afraid to name Russia, contrasting him with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, who named Russia after a similar incident in Poland. Radev replied that Bozhanov would need "a crystal ball" to identify the perpetrator, and said the investigation, under way with partner services, was intensive and results were expected soon. He asked Plamen Tonchev, head of the State Agency for National Security, not to disclose details before the inquiry concluded.

The incident follows a similar attack on a Starlink ground station in Wola Krobowska, near Warsaw, which caught fire on 23 September with no injuries. That station provides internet access to a large part of central and eastern Europe, including Ukraine, and Tusk has called the fire part of Russia's hybrid war; Warsaw has no doubt Moscow was behind it, and Polish investigators have detained two Turkish nationals in Germany in connection with the case, blaming Russian intelligence services.

Starlink, the satellite service owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, also provides internet access to Ukraine's armed forces, which experts say is an important factor in Ukraine's defence against the Russian invasion. On the same day as Radev's statement, Kyiv said SpaceX had restricted some Starlink network services in Ukraine overnight; the restrictions affect a military package used for internet access on the move, presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said, adding that Ukrainian forces had not been told in advance, which disrupted a number of missions. SpaceX has not commented.

European security services and some European officials have warned that Moscow is using hybrid attacks to try to deter the West from helping Ukraine.