Bulgaria charges two Germans over Starlink antenna arson, seeks EU warrants
Two German teenagers are accused of torching Starlink antennas at a Bulgarian teleport near Sofia on Oct. 9.
what happened
Two German nationals, both 19, crossed into Bulgaria from Serbia on Oct. 9, posing as tourists, and set fire to eight Starlink antennas at the Plana teleport facility south of Sofia around 10:25 p.m. before driving back to Serbia the same night, per the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). Three antennas were completely destroyed, two were partially damaged and three others were affected. Sofia City Court charged the pair in absentia on Oct. 14 and authorized European arrest warrants on Oct. 19; they face three to 12 years in prison if convicted, per Kyiv Post.
why it matters
It is the third suspected sabotage attempt on Starlink ground infrastructure serving Ukraine in Europe since September, after incidents in Poland and Lithuania. Bulgaria's security services called it sabotage and warned further attacks cannot be ruled out, adding another European country to the list of operators and insurers now pricing in physical-security risk for Starlink's ground segment.
for who
Starlink and ground-segment operators in Europe, satellite insurers
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- SpaceX
- Category
- geopolitical
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-09
- Published
- 2026-10-19 22:51 UTC