Baltic Sea GPS disruptions to continue until Russia ends war, Lithuanian speaker warns

Skvernelis cautioned that the problem will remain in the region for as long as the Kremlin wages war in Ukraine.

“This is related to the war in Ukraine. The Russians are protecting the Kaliningrad Oblast from potential air attacks. They are not intentionally trying to disrupt our aircraft flying to Lithuania or to harm them. But the protection zone extends beyond the Kaliningrad Oblast, and the threats, the interference, also affect our territory,” he said.

Thirteen EU member states earlier urged the European Commission to respond to the disruptions of global navigation satellite systems across the bloc.

In a joint letter to Brussels, the countries emphasized that GPS interference is not the result of isolated incidents, but rather systematic and deliberate actions by the Russian and Belarusian regimes aimed at destabilizing regional infrastructure, particularly in the transport sector.

“We can appeal to all EU countries and any institution, but it won’t help as long as Russia uses such electronic defenses for its military facilities to shield itself from Ukrainian strikes,” Skvernelis said.

He added that Western nations must force Russia to end the war, and then “this problem will simply disappear.”

In November 2024, Reuters reported that Russia was jamming satellite navigation signals, disrupting airport operations in Finland.

Bloomberg reported that Russia is using its Kaliningrad Oblast, which borders Poland and Lithuania, as one of its bases for interfering with the European Union’s satellite systems.

On Jan. 10, 2025, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russia of threatening European security through cable sabotage, disinformation campaigns, and GPS disruptions.

On Jan. 15, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia was planning aerial terror attacks against his country and against airlines worldwide. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Tusk’s remarks as “absolutely baseless.”