Russia jams GPS and communications in NATO neighboring countries – ISW
Photo: Russian military
European countries bordering Russia are reporting GPS and communications jamming, according to Bloomberg and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
European states along Russia's western border and the Baltic Sea, including the Baltic countries, Finland, Poland, and Sweden, have reported a sharp increase in jamming and spoofing of GPS and other systems in recent months, as well as an increase in the number of Russian electronic warfare (EW) installations in border areas.
On June 23, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland sent a letter to the International Telecommunication Union about increased radio navigation interference.
The Estonian regulator confirmed that 85% of flights in the country experience signal interruptions and a significant number of spoofing incidents.
In July, Lithuania accused Russia of organizing a surge in GPS jamming, which led to a 22-fold increase in the number of such incidents compared to the previous year.
On August 15, the pro-Ukrainian investigative agency Tochnyi.info reported that satellite images indicate that Russia is building a circular antenna array, intended for radio reconnaissance or communications, south of Chernyakhovsk in the Kaliningrad region, 25 kilometers from the Polish border.
Investigators estimate that it could allow Russia to monitor NATO communications in Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea, communicate with submarines operating in the Baltic Sea or the northern Atlantic Ocean, and maintain passive intelligence gathering.
As RBC-Ukraine previously reported, citing Politico, Russia is jamming GPS signals for aircraft over the Baltic region. The interference is concentrated in the Kaliningrad region of Russia.
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation emphasises that such incidents have been steadily increasing since January 2022.
In January 2024, the Institute for the Study of War wrote that large-scale disruptions in GPS systems had been recorded in Poland and the Baltic region. At that time, it was not ruled out that this was the result of Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems operating in the region.
Later, Estonia accused Russia of being behind the increase in cases of jamming of satellite signals used by airlines, smartphones, and weapons systems in Eastern Europe.
