Lithuania charges two suspects with terrorism over attempted Starlink arson in Vilnius

Charges in Vilnius

Lithuanian prosecutors have charged two men with terrorism-related offences over an attempted arson at a Starlink ground station in Vilnius, a announcement the Prosecutor General's Office made on Thursday, 29 October. The two suspects are about 20 years old, hold dual citizenship and live in Germany, where they are being held in detention. Prosecutors say they are accused of setting up and leading a terrorist group, taking part in one, travelling for terrorist purposes and committing a terrorist act that could have had serious consequences. A prosecutor from the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor's Office, Nėrijus Puškorius, said the maximum penalty for setting up or joining a terrorist group is 10 to 15 years in prison. Vilnius had earlier treated the 18 October attempt as sabotage linked to Russia and aimed at weakening Ukraine's military capabilities.

The Vilnius attempt

According to Lithuanian police, the two men arrived in Lithuania the day before the attempt and left immediately afterwards. Saulius Briginas, deputy head of Lithuania's criminal police bureau, told a press conference that they had no ties to the country and came only to commit the crime, which he said was not a spontaneous act. The attackers tried to set fire to satellite dishes and a control unit at a site belonging to the data centre company Delska, which leases space to SpaceX for Starlink ground infrastructure. Investigators found flammable liquids and containers of 3 to 10 litres at the scene, and Briginas described the use of Molotov cocktails. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said security services had warned the company of possible attacks beforehand and protection had been strengthened, which is why the attempt failed. Operations were not disrupted and the damage was minimal.

Links to Poland and Bulgaria

Lithuanian investigators say the suspects are also linked to arson at Starlink equipment in Poland and Bulgaria, and that several people have been detained in Poland in connection with those incidents. In Poland, a fire broke out at a Starlink ground station in Wola Krobowska, in Grójec county in Mazovia, on the evening of 23 September. Two days later, on 25 September, the Mazovian division of the National Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into sabotage and a terrorist-type offence carried out on behalf of foreign intelligence. Unofficial information reported by RMF FM says a police patrol checked two Turkish men near the site hours after the fire and let them go, because sabotage had not yet been established and the report then spoke only of a fire at the installation. Camera footage from the site was still being analysed at that point. Lithuanian reporting says investigators do not believe the men arrested in Germany personally set fire to the Polish equipment, and suspect they were involved in another way. The timeline below sets out the dated steps reported so far.

Competing accounts and next steps

Polish media describe a different legal basis for the detention, with RMF FM reporting that Turkish nationals living in Germany and suspected in Poland were held on a European Arrest Warrant issued in Poland. Lithuanian reporting, by contrast, says the warrants were issued by Bulgaria, and that Bulgaria requested the arrests in a separate investigation into arson against Starlink infrastructure. If transferred to Poland, those suspects would face charges of sabotage on behalf of foreign intelligence, according to the RMF FM report. Lithuanian authorities suspect Russia, and RMF FM reports they say the group acted on the orders of Russian services, while Lithuanian police are examining whether the suspects had ties to Russia. Moscow has rejected similar accusations from other European countries as unfounded. Puškorius said the suspects remain in Germany and a decision on their transfer to Lithuania will be taken later, while the three countries continue to cooperate on the investigation.