Germany detains third person over Starlink fire in Poland, RMF FM reports


WARSAW, Oct 13 (Reuters) - German ⁠police have detained a woman in Berlin in connection ⁠with a fire at a Starlink station in Poland ‌last month, Polish private broadcaster RMF FM reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, in the third detention in the case.

The blaze at the Starlink station in ​central Poland in September engulfed its power ⁠system and backup generator. Poland ⁠said at the time it believed the fire was an act ⁠of ‌sabotage aimed at disrupting internet services, including for Ukraine's military, and blamed Russia.

RMF reported that the detained woman ⁠may have acted as a driver and that ​Polish prosecutors would ‌now assess the extent of her involvement and decide whether ⁠there were ​grounds to seek her extradition.

It did not give the woman's nationality or any other details.

The German Interior Ministry was not immediately available for ⁠comment. Poland's National Prosecutor's Office also had ​no immediate comment.

A spokesperson for Germany's Federal Criminal Police said the agency coordinated the exchange of information between Polish and German authorities ⁠in connection with the arrest of three individuals.

Poland said on Monday that two Turkish men had been detained in Germany on suspicion of being responsible for the blaze.

Officials from several European Union ​countries have warned for months that Russia ⁠has been mounting sabotage, cyber and other hybrid attacks across Europe ​to erode support for Ukraine.

Moscow says ‌such accusations are baseless and the ​result of anti-Russian hysteria.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw, Kirsti Knolle in BerlinEditing by Gareth Jones)

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