Russia has been scrambling GPS signal over Estonia, the country's authorities have confirmed to the Bloomberg news agency. Pilots flying over Lithuania have also reported their GPS signals being affected, according to the state air navigation company, Oro Navigacija.
"We received reports on May 30-31 and June 4 of unstable or malfunctioning GPS systems from several aircraft flying over central Lithuania at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometres,” said Remigijus Malinauskas from Oro Navigacija.
“The ground-based GPS systems that we operate did not detect any anomalies and the aircraft continued with their flights," he added.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that civilian aircraft in the Baltic states and Finland were affected by GPS signal interference.
According to the Estonian Consumer Protection Agency, the interference was coming from the Leningrad region in western Russia, which borders Estonia.
Russia's efforts to jam GPS signals have intensified following drone attacks on its territory, Bloomberg reported.
"Jamming GPS signals is one of the possible means of the Russian Federation to ensure the protection of important objects in its country," the Estonian Defence Ministry said in a statement to Bloomberg. “In such cases, situations may arise in which the jamming of signals also affects the use of GPS in nearby areas."
Finnish air traffic control also said the country’s aircraft use alternative systems, adding that commercial flights were not affected.
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