Lithuania Charges Two Suspects With Terrorism Over Starlink Arson Attempt

Lithuania has charged two suspects with terrorism related offences over an attempted arson attack on a Starlink base station in Vilnius, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday. The two men, both about 20 years old, live in Germany and are detained there, and prosecutors said the question of extraditing them to Lithuania will be raised at a later stage of the investigation.

The attempted arson took place on the night of October 18 at a company in Vilnius. A fire broke out at the premises, but the company's operations were not disrupted and the equipment was saved after a security guard reacted quickly. The equipment was not destroyed.

Suspects held in Germany

Lithuanian officials said the suspects are foreign citizens who had no known ties to Lithuania. They arrived the day before the incident and left afterward. One suspect holds Turkish and German citizenship, while the other is a dual Serbian and German national.

The men had previously been detained in Germany at Bulgaria's request over a separate investigation into an arson attack targeting Starlink infrastructure. On October 27, the men were named as suspects in a range of offences in the Lithuanian case, including forming and participating in a terrorist group, arriving for terrorist purposes and terrorism. Prosecutors said the alleged offences are serious or very serious, and forming or participating in a terrorist group can carry a prison sentence of five to 15 years.

The suspects are not named in the reporting, and the charges are allegations that remain part of an ongoing investigation.

Links to attacks in three countries

Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau Deputy Chief Saulius Briginas said investigators see direct links between the suspects and attacks on Starlink antennas in Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria. Officials are working with law enforcement in Germany, Bulgaria and Poland, as well as intelligence agencies, and they also suspect the men may have links to Russia.

Lithuania has previously said it was treating the attempted arson attack on the SpaceX Starlink base station on October 18 as a Russia linked act of sabotage aimed at undermining Ukraine's military capabilities. Moscow has previously said such accusations are baseless.

Antennas used by Ukraine

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said the Vilnius company provides connectivity through nine Starlink satellite antennas used by Ukraine. He described the incident as potentially part of Russia's hybrid warfare, citing similar incidents abroad.

Starlink is the satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, and its terminals have been widely used for connectivity in Ukraine during the war. Lithuanian prosecutors have not said when a court will hear the charges, and the extradition question will be handled later in the investigation, according to the reporting from Vilnius.