Russia suspected of jamming navigation on EU leader’s plane above Bulgaria

Plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen connected four-day circuit of ‘front line’ states connected EU’s eastbound flank landed with ‘paper maps’.

A level carrying European Commission main Ursula von der Leyen was deed by GPS jamming arsenic it prepared to onshore successful Bulgaria, with officials pointing the digit of blasted astatine Russia.

Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said the GPS outer awesome transmitting accusation to von der Leyen’s chartered pitchy was jammed arsenic it approached Plovdiv International Airport successful confederate Bulgaria connected Sunday.

“We tin so corroborate that determination was GPS jamming, but the level landed safely successful Bulgaria. We person received accusation from the Bulgarian authorities that they fishy that this was owed to blatant interference by Russia,” Podesta said connected Monday.

Bulgaria issued a connection saying that the country’s Civil Aviation Authority instructed the pilots to edifice to “terrestrial navigation tools” arsenic an alternate method of landing safely.

The Financial Times newspaper, which archetypal reported the incident, said the level was forced to onshore utilizing “paper maps”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the accusations against Russia successful comments to the Financial Times, saying “your accusation is incorrect”.

Since Moscow’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022, Western officials person accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and different incidents – including jamming, which involves emitting a beardown vigor awesome that overwhelms communications.

In April past year, a Finnish hose was forced to temporarily suspend flights to the Estonian metropolis of Tartu pursuing jamming. The period before, a level carrying the British defence caput had its outer awesome jammed arsenic it flew adjacent Russian territory.

Von der Leyen was visiting Bulgaria arsenic portion of a four-day circuit of “front line” European Union states connected the bloc’s eastbound flank – namely, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria – that are considered to beryllium much exposed to threats from Russia.

Podesta said the incidental would reenforce the bloc’s “unshakable committedness to ramp up defence capabilities and enactment for Ukraine”, underlining the “urgency” of the committee president’s ngo successful the region.

The incidental came arsenic Western powers sermon however to warrant Ukraine’s information successful lawsuit of a truce woody successful the three-and-a-half-year Russia-Ukraine war.

US President Donald Trump moved to reconstruct dialog with Russia astatine the commencement of his 2nd presidency, but diplomatic efforts to extremity the warfare person mislaid momentum.

Moscow continues to stall connected a imaginable gathering betwixt Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.