Bulgarian court approves European arrest warrant for two Germans over Starlink antenna fire

A court in Sofia has approved a European arrest warrant for two German nationals. They are accused of setting fire to SpaceX Starlink antennas near the Bulgarian capital. Deutsche Welle (DW) and Reuters both reported the decision. Reuters cited a spokesperson. Its summary does not identify which institution the spokesperson represents.

The court granted a request from prosecutors. According to DW, the ruling states: "The evidence gathered makes it possible to conclude that there are reasonable grounds to suspect the involvement of the two defendants."

What is reported

According to DW, the warrants were issued on Monday, 19 October 2026. DW reports that both suspects are 19 years old. It says the antennas were set on fire on the evening of 9 October.

DW cited prosecutors as saying there were 18 antennas in a mountainous region south of Sofia. Three were destroyed entirely, two were partially burned and three more were damaged.

DW also reports that Ukraine's military uses Starshield, Starlink's military-grade satellite internet service, for battlefield communications during Russia's invasion.

In a separate case, DW reports that four people were arrested in Germany the previous week. They are accused of sabotaging a Starlink satellite communications station in central Poland in late September. According to DW, German police detained "three resident men and a woman"; DW does not say where they were resident. Two of them are Turkish nationals.

What each side says

• Bulgarian prosecutors say the two suspects deliberately set fire to the antennas, according to DW. Prosecutors say the pair entered Bulgaria from Serbia in a car with German license plates, claimed to be tourists and stayed only a few hours around the time of the alleged crime.
• Plamen Tonchev, head of Bulgaria's domestic intelligence agency DANS, is working on the assumption that the fire was deliberate sabotage, according to DW. He said further such acts cannot be ruled out.
• Polish officials believe Russia was behind the sabotage attempt in Poland, DW reports. Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the incident as an act of "hybrid warfare".
• DW reports that a domestic intelligence agency said Russia cooperated with organized crime elements in Germany on the alleged operation in Poland. DW's report does not make clear which country's agency this is.
• Lithuania's prime minister said on Sunday that Russia was likely behind an attempted arson attack on a company hosting communication hardware for Starlink satellites, according to DW.

What the reports do not include

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not say whether the suspects have been located or detained, and do not name them. They include no response from the suspects, their lawyers, German authorities or SpaceX. They do not give a motive or describe the operational impact of the damage. They do not say who operates the site. They do not describe evidence linking the Bulgarian incident to the Polish case or to any state actor. Bulgarian officials quoted do not attribute responsibility to Russia. The reports also differ slightly on the number of warrants: DW refers to warrants, while Reuters' summary refers to a single warrant for the two men.

Analysis

The Bulgarian case is one of several incidents involving Starlink infrastructure in Europe described by DW, alongside the case in Poland and the attempted arson cited by Lithuania's prime minister. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not establish whether these incidents are connected. Polish and Lithuanian officials point to Russia; the Bulgarian officials quoted do not. Next steps may depend on whether the suspects are located and the warrant is executed, which could lead to a judicial process in which the evidence is tested. If they are not found, the case may remain open. Any link between the incidents would require evidence the reports do not describe.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.