Two masked men deliberately set fire to 11 of the 17 SpaceX antennas used to communicate with Starlink satellites at a secret facility near Sofia. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed that an investigation was underway in cooperation with partner intelligence services but declined to disclose details.
The arson attack was reported by Bulgarian MP Ivaylo Mirchev.
According to Mirchev, two masked men set fire to 11 of the 17 SpaceX antennas at a secret facility near Sofia. The antennas provide communications with Starlink satellites, a system widely used during the war in Ukraine.
“At a secret facility near Sofia, 11 antennas used for Starlink communications were deliberately set on fire. Two masked men set fire to 11 of the 17 SpaceX antennas used to communicate with Starlink satellites,” Mirchev wrote.
The MP said Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry had not reported the incident and that no information about it had appeared in the media.
“Just a few days ago, at a meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security, the head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) assured me that counterintelligence was working very actively to counter sabotage linked to Russia. Clearly, it is not doing a very good job,” Mirchev said.
He questioned whether Bulgarian intelligence services had received warnings from their partners about a planned act of sabotage at the facility, whether they had been aware of the preparations and what measures they had taken.
“Many questions arise: was there a warning from partner intelligence services about sabotage being prepared at this specific location? Did the Bulgarian services know about the planned sabotage, and what measures did they take? Was the arrival of police vehicles at the scene in recent hours too late?” the MP wrote.
Mirchev said he and his colleague Bozhanov had submitted parliamentary questions to DANS and Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry. He also announced that further information would be presented in parliament the following day.
According to Bulgarian National Radio, Prime Minister Rumen Radev declined to reveal details of the Starlink antenna arson attack because an investigation was ongoing.
“An investigation is underway, and it is extremely intensive. I urge the head of DANS not to disclose details at this stage, despite your exceptionally keen curiosity. But it is only a matter of a very short time. We are working with partner services to bring this operation to a successful conclusion,” Radev said.
The prime minister explained that disclosing what investigators had established could jeopardise the outcome sought by law enforcement agencies.
“If the head of DANS and the police start revealing exactly what has been established, they will not achieve the result we are seeking. But I can tell you that the investigation is under control,” he stressed.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said additional security measures had been introduced for similar facilities.
“Although responsibility for protecting these facilities lies with their owners, the Interior Ministry’s agencies have taken additional measures to protect similar sites across the country,” Demerdzhiev said.
