Fire wey happun for one Starlink satellite station inside central Poland na deliberate act of sabotage, according to one government minister. Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski tok say di fire for Masovian Voivodeship province na deliberately designed to disable di station, disrupting internet access for various institutions, including di Ukrainian army.
He tell Polish public broadcaster TVP Info say investigation dey ongoing but many indications suggest di attack fit into a new Russian doctrine of attack. Di Kremlin never comment. Meanwhile, Denmark intelligence service issue a new threat assessment say e expect Russia to escalate hybrid warfare for di coming months.
Denmark tok say attack remain highly unlikely but warn of a low but growing risk say Russia fit launch a limited military attack against Nato countries. For recent weeks, a number of European Nato members don tok say Russia fit dey prepare attacks to test dia commitment to supporting Ukraine, which Moscow deny.
Earlier dis month, Germany blame Russia for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport, while France don order a plan to protect critical infrastructure and defence industry sites. Hybrid warfare or hybrid attacks na loose terms wey dey describe non-military methods designed to exert pressure and destabilise an adversary, like cyberattacks, sabotage or misinformation. Proxies often dey use to carry out di attacks and Russia always deny involvement, despite growing evidence to di contrary.
Di fire for di state-owned Polish satellite station break out on Wednesday night for Wola Krobowska. E remain operational. Di deputy prime minister tok say e dey transmit internet traffic through Poland to countries including Ukraine, and e dey use SpaceX systems wey provide connectivity via Starlink terminals.
Gawkowski tell TVN say dem dey deal with an arson attack wey intended to impact critical telecommunications infrastructure wey dey influence internet operation. He tok say di facility na owned by Polish state telecommunications operator Exatel and e dey provide internet transmission through Poland, and also to Ukraine. He note say other internet providers dey use Exatel facility, including Elon Musk SpaceX, wey be owner of Starlink. Starlink terminals don vital for Ukraine during Russia war against di country.
Police and officers from di Internal Security Agency (ABW) later dispatch to di scene due to suspicions say di fire na deliberate. Preliminary findings indicate say unidentified individuals fit don deliberately set fire to an electrical distribution panel for di site. Investigators also dey consider a short circuit for di electrical system as a possible cause.
Di facility for Poland, alongside one for Lithuania, dey serve di entire Central and Eastern Europe region, including Ukraine. Poland dey spend around $50 million every year to finance half of di approximately 42,000 Starlink terminals wey dem dey use for Ukraine.
Asked about di incident for a news conference with Bulgaria leader on Thursday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk tok say he no like labelling something as sabotage versus an accident without 100% certainty, but e look bad. Also on Thursday, Moldova president tok say four Russian drones cross into im airspace, with at least one exploding, while Romania defence ministry tok say one drone crash for im territory. On Wednesday Poland also tok say a Russian military helicopter briefly violate im airspace, forcing am to scramble fighter jets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin don repeatedly tok say Moscow no plan to attack Nato states. Earlier dis month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tok say na Europe dey talk about preparing for war, adding: If Europe attacks Russia, e go be a completely different war from dat one for Ukraine, and e go very short. Putin launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine for 2022, and Moscow currently dey control about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including di Crimea peninsula annexed for 2014.
Ukraine now dey experience round-the-clock attacks and near constant alerts. For Kharkiv, six people die and 12 others injure for a Russian strike on a farm for di village of Stara Hnylytsia, Ukraine state emergency services tok. E tok say dem be agricultural workers wey dey sort vegetables, with di head of Kharkiv region adding say four be women.
For Kyiv, multiple explosions happun on Wednesday night as drones, ballistic and cruise missiles land or dem intercept over di city. For di past 24 hours, a bakery, a pharmaceutical plant and a jewellery workshop all hit. Strikes on several data centres also cause internet disruptions for areas of di city. Two people die and eight others injure overnight, emergency services tok. One die when fragments of a drone land close to a maternity hospital. Di hospital director tok say a woman born a baby boy for a shelter during dat attack, adding: Even on such a terrible night, life goes on.
Russia defence ministry tok say e hit Ukrainian defence facilities, logistics and telecom centres, as well as vessels wey military dey use. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wey dey New York for di UN General Assembly, accuse Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. But e sometimes hard to distinguish between deliberate and accidental hits. Attacks on power facilities, railways and data centres all clearly part of a deliberate Russian strategy to make life as difficult as possible for civilians far from di slow-moving front lines.
With im long-range attacks on oil refineries and postal warehouses, Ukraine dey do something similar: bringing di war home to ordinary Russians. But Russia attacks on Ukraine cities don intensify for recent weeks. Jet-powered drones now more common pass dia slower predecessors, wey use piston engines. Di latest Russian drones fly high and fast, making dem harder to shoot down. There also less time for civilians to react. Kyiv dey race to develop low-cost weapons wey can counter dem as di missiles and fighter jets e get to fight back too expensive.
For New York, Zelensky tok say, we need ballistic interceptors to protect lives and call on di US to help. He tok say Putin need to stop from continuing di war and spreading dis evil further, adding: Putin always dey look for someone who can help am kill more, kill more people for every kilometre of land. Ukrainian president comments come as Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev head to di US to meet Trump administration officials, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Reuters report, citing two sources. Russia Lavrov tell di UN Security Council on Wednesday say there no go be pause for di war.
