Lithuania foils arson attack on Starlink equipment, suspects Russian involvement
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Lithuanian authorities thwarted an attempted arson attack on a company storing Starlink satellite communications equipment overnight on Oct. 18, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said.
The attackers attempted to set fire to satellite antennas and a control unit. Investigators found incendiary liquids and containers with capacities ranging from three to 10 liters at the scene, Sinkevicius told Lithuania's national broadcaster LRT Radio.
"The authorities had warned the company of possible attacks, security had been stepped up, and the attempt failed," he later wrote in a Facebook post.
Sinkevicius described the incident as part of Russia's hybrid warfare campaign, pointing to similar suspected sabotage incidents across Europe, including in Poland and Bulgaria.
"We will learn more about who ordered it, how everything happened, and who was behind it. It is likely that it is already clear who commissioned it — the Russian side," he added.
A similar incident was reported in Poland on Sept. 23, when a fire broke out at a Starlink ground station in what may have been an attempt to disrupt its operations.
The suspected sabotage attempt in Lithuania came as a drone crashed and exploded in the country's north near the Latvian border on Oct. 18, damaging a passing car, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center, told LRT Radio.
Authorities have yet to determine whether the drone carried explosives or what caused the blast, Sinkevicius told the broadcaster.
It remains unclear who the drone belonged to. Ukraine launched a large-scale attack on the Russian city of St. Petersburg overnight on Oct. 18, and similar drone incidents in the Baltic states have occurred during Ukrainian attacks on the city.
Sinkevicius said Lithuania's warning system had been activated but had not functioned perfectly, with reports received only from the Kaunas district.
The prime minister said he would convene the National Security Commission on Oct. 19 to discuss both incidents.
