Russia accused of GPS jamming over Baltic Sea after incident forces von der Leyen's plane to navigate using paper maps

Sep 1, 2025

Russia is accused of widespread GPS jamming over the Baltic Sea, which has escalated to a near-daily occurrence and affected a plane carrying EU President Ursula von der Leyen, forcing it to land using paper maps. Sweden reports 733 incidents in 2025, up from 55 in 2023. While the Kremlin denies involvement, the EU and the International Civil Aviation Organization condemn the actions as a threat to civil aviation.

Von der Leyen plane incident

▪The pilots of Ursula von der Leyen's plane reportedly had to use paper maps to land safely in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
▪A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen experienced GPS jamming over Bulgaria on a Sunday.
▪A European Commission spokesperson described the incident as "blatant interference by Russia".
▪Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied Russian involvement in the incident, calling the information "incorrect".

Russian electronic warfare tactics

▪GPS jamming works by broadcasting high-intensity radio noise in the same frequency band as navigation satellites, drowning out their signals.
▪GPS jamming and spoofing incidents have increased since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
▪Aircraft can use backup systems like radio navigation and inertial sensing when GPS is unavailable.
▪GPS spoofing is an electronic warfare tactic that tricks a navigation system into displaying an incorrect location.

Baltic airspace interference patterns

▪The ICAO Council demanded Russia cease the disturbances, but the interference has reportedly increased since.
▪The interference has spread from eastern Swedish airspace over international waters to include Swedish land and waters.
▪An internal EU document from May 2025 describes the interference as a "systemic, deliberate action by Russia and Belarus".
▪Sweden has accused Russia of being behind a significant rise in GPS signal jamming over the Baltic Sea.
▪In June, six nations including Sweden, Poland, and the Baltic states raised the issue with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
▪In March 2024, a plane carrying UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps experienced GPS interference for 30 minutes near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
▪Sweden's Transport Agency recorded 733 jamming incidents by August 28, 2025, up from 55 incidents in all of 2023.