Fire at WB Electronics plant in Poland: person in balaclava spotted on premises

In the Polish city of Skarżysko-Kamienna, a fire broke out in the early hours of August 31 at the WB Electronics plant, a facility that manufactures components for unmanned systems.

Shortly before the fire, surveillance cameras captured an unidentified person wearing a balaclava on the premises. Polish security services have joined the investigation.

The fire started at 00:23 local time in one of the rooms of the production building. Almost simultaneously with the blaze, the plant’s alarm system was triggered. According to the Onet portal, cameras recorded a person in a balaclava who climbed over a fence and entered the plant grounds. Near the facility, police found a backpack and a hoodie that may have been left by the unknown individual. The suspect was not found — despite a dog handler with a dog being brought in for the search and the area being surveyed using a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera.

Officers from Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Military Counterintelligence Service arrived at the scene. Authorities are considering the possibility that the fire was the result of deliberate arson.

“We are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness,” said Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesman for the minister-coordinator of the special services.

According to him, ABW officers are establishing the circumstances of the incident and investigating the sabotage theory, though Dobrzyński urged against rushing to conclusions.

The plant was not operating at the time of the fire and there were no casualties. Firefighters brought the blaze under control in approximately two hours: they cut the electricity, extinguished the flames, and ventilated the premises. A WB Electronics spokesman said the area affected by the fire was approximately 60 sq. m. The fire broke out in a room adjacent to a warehouse storing electronic components for the production of unmanned systems. The company stated that the fire did not cause serious damage to production and that operations could be resumed quickly.

What WB Electronics produces

The plant in Skarżysko-Kamienna is part of WB Group — Poland’s largest private defense group. The facility specializes in military electronics, producing in particular FlyEye reconnaissance drones and Warmate loitering munitions. Both types of unmanned aircraft are purchased by the Polish army and are also used by Ukrainian forces. In May 2025, WB Electronics signed a framework contract with the Polish Armaments Agency for the delivery of nearly 10,000 Warmate units by 2035, and in May 2026 received an order for a further 190 FlyEye sets.

Similar incidents in the region

A few days before the fire at WB Electronics, a similar incident was prevented in Slovakia. According to police, a group of foreigners was preparing to set fire to a plant belonging to the company Skyeton in Haniska near Prešov, where unmanned systems are manufactured. The prosecutor’s office confirmed to Reuters that the alleged perpetrators were acting on the orders of a third party. During searches, investigators found containers of incendiary mixture, lighters, tools, protective gear, mobile phones, an action camera, and a notebook containing an attack plan and escape route. Forensic analysis showed that the mixture consisted of gasoline and polystyrene — a composition commonly referred to as napalm.

Charges were initially brought against three foreigners — a Ukrainian national and two Latvian nationals. One of the Latvians was detained in Germany on a European arrest warrant, and Slovakia is seeking his extradition. Police later reported the detention of another Ukrainian national. According to preliminary findings of the investigation, approximately 70 employees may have been present in the production building at the time of the alleged attack, and the value of property located there was estimated at tens of millions of euros. Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák stated that the facility produces reconnaissance drones and had received export licenses for the United States and the United Kingdom, but that Slovak authorities had not issued it a license to export to Ukraine.

Another fire at a defense facility occurred in the early hours of August 15 in Tallinn. A building on Betooni Street used by the Estonian company Milrem Robotics — a manufacturer of military ground robotic systems — caught fire. The Estonian prosecutor’s office reported that the building may have been set alight. Three local residents were detained in Latvia in connection with the fire, and Estonian authorities are seeking their transfer for investigative proceedings. Milrem Robotics manufactures THeMIS tracked unmanned ground platforms, which are used by Ukrainian forces.