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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated as further details emerge.
After a fire at a facility belonging to WB Electronics, the EU’s largest drone maker, Polish prosecutors have launched an investigation into suspicions that the incident was a “crime of a terrorist nature” committed with the “participation of foreign intelligence”.
Prokurator z Małopolskiego Wydziału Zamiejscowego Departamentu do Spraw Przestępczości Zorganizowanej i Korupcji @PK_GOV_PL w Krakowie wszczął dziś śledztwo w sprawie brania udziału w działalności obcego wywiadu przeciwko Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i dopuszczenia się przestępstwa… https://t.co/h6k4Fvv3CK
— Jacek Dobrzyński (@JacekDobrzynski) August 31, 2026
Shortly after midnight, a fire broke out in storage facilities at WB Electronics’ plant in the city of Skarżysko-Kamienna. The site is used to produce components for drones that are supplied to the Polish and Ukrainian armed forces, among others. The fire was soon extinguished with no injuries reported.
Speculation immediately emerged that the blaze could have been caused deliberately. Poland has been the primary target in Europe of sabotage activities carried out by operatives working on behalf of Russia.
While the Polish authorities initially refused to speculate on the cause of the fire, the provincial police headquarters in nearby Kielce confirmed that a burglar alarm had been triggered in the area around midnight. When the emergency services arrived, they confirmed that a fire had broken out.
Shortly before 5 p.m. local time on Monday afternoon, prosecutors announced that they had launched an investigation into the potential involvement of foreign intelligence and the committing of a terrorist offence.
“The offence consisted of intentionally starting a fire on the premises of WB Electronics in Skarżysko-Kamienna on 31 August 2026 by planting a charge containing flammable materials,” they wrote. The resultant fire destroyed the warehouse facilities, causing at least 15 million zloty (€3.46m) of damage.
Jacek Dobrzyński, the spokesman for Poland’s security services, revealed that the Internal Security Agency (ABW) was conducting the investigation in cooperation with prosecutors.
🔴 Pożar w Skarżysku-Kamiennej. "To było podpalenie"
Znamy nowe szczegóły w sprawie nocnego pożaru w zakładach w Skarżysku-Kamiennej. Coraz więcej wskazuje na to, że możemy mówić o przypadku dywersji lub sabotażu. W zakładzie dronowej firmy doszło do podpalenia.
✒️ @jodynaa…
— Wirtualna Polska (@wirtualnapolska) August 31, 2026
The incident in Skarżysko-Kamienna came shortly after a separate fire on Sunday at a warehouse in another Polish city, Lublin, that belonged to a company that also supplies components for drones used in Ukraine, according to news website Wirtualna Polska.
Interior ministry spokeswoman Karolina Gałecka refused to confirm to Wirtualna Polska whether the authorities are treating the two fires as related, but said that “every aspect will be thoroughly investigated”.
Earlier this year, a report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism on Moscow’s growing campaign of sabotage in Europe found that Poland is the “primary focus of Russian activity”.
Last year, Poland confirmed that Russia was behind the fire that in 2024 destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre. It is also seeking to detain two men believed to have sabotaged a rail line in Poland last year on Russian orders.
Poland is the "primary focus" of Russia's sabotage campaign in Europe, finds a new report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism.
Among 151 incidents identified since 2022, 31 of them took place in Poland – more than in any other country https://t.co/QXfSI00FD6
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 3, 2026
WB Electronics was established in Poland in 1997 and has grown into one of Europe’s largest private defence firms. Its Warmate loitering munitions drones have been used by Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression.
Last December, WB Electronics also signed an agreement with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace that will see Poland manufacture over 10,000 CGR-080 precision-guided missiles for the K239 Chunmoo rocket artillery system.
In a statement to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) following last night’s incident, the company said that “all procedures and systems worked properly, and the fire was quickly extinguished”. It thanked the fire service and said that operations would resume at the plant “after formalities are completed”.
Poland, in cooperation with South Korean partners, will for the first time produce guided missiles domestically under a deal worth more than 14 billion zloty (€3.3 billion) https://t.co/lUJHbZCoH0
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 30, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Wojciech Habdas / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
