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Two Turkish Citizens Arrested in Germany Over Starlink Sabotage in Poland
Der Spiegel reported that the 'Daltons' organization may have acted on behalf of Russian intelligence; concrete evidence has not yet been presented.
Two Turkish citizens named Ümit E. (38) and Müslüm T. (34) were detained in Nürtingen, Germany this week under Polish authorities' request for judicial assistance and European arrest warrants. Cumhuriyet Gazetesi reported on Der Spiegel's October 16 article.
The Starlink station in Wola Krobowska village, Poland was damaged in a fire that broke out on September 23. Polish authorities declared the fire to be deliberate sabotage and held Russia responsible.
Der Spiegel, drawing on independent sources from multiple countries, reported that the suspects may have acted on behalf of the Daltons, a Türkiye-based organized crime group, and that the organization's ties to Russian intelligence services are under investigation. The newspaper emphasized that concrete evidence supporting these claims has not yet been presented.
Starlink plays a critical role in the Ukrainian army's communications and defense coordination; for this reason, any attack on the station is considered a direct security matter for NATO member Poland. The detentions in Nürtingen mark among the first known cases of Turkish citizens being linked to Russian hybrid operations in Europe.
Sources — how we know this
- PrimaryCumhuriyet Gazetesi