Russia can falsify GPS signals deep into Europe, Lithuania says
By Andrius Sytas
RIGA, May 26 (Reuters) – Russia could tamper with GPS signals deep within Europe in a radius of up to 450 km (280 miles) from the Kaliningrad exclave, due to its vastly increased capacity, a Lithuanian official said on Tuesday.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries have frequently accused Russia of electronic interference, but President Vladimir Putin’s government denies this, blaming Western smear tactics.
Russia has increased its GPS “spoiler” antennas, which broadcast false signals to confuse other location systems, from three in early 2025 to 36 currently, Darius Kuliesius, Lithuania’s deputy head of communications regulator, told Reuters.
He said the antennas were located in the heavily militarized Kaliningrad region, sandwiched between NATO alliance members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic coast.
“The sporadic intervention started with the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius. They have now created the infrastructure and the intervention has become Russia’s systematic, permanent and unending provocation against European security,” Kuliesius said. he said.
The Russian embassy in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Moscow has frequently denied such accusations in the past.
A map prepared by the Lithuanian regulator shows that spoofing of Russia’s Global Positioning System could reach Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, most of Poland, parts of Finland, Sweden and Belarus, and the Baltic Sea.
Kuliesius said the range reached 450 km; The Lithuanian regulator estimated this figure by analyzing disturbances in aviation surveillance ADS-B broadcasts.
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Last year, a Spanish military jet carrying Defense Minister Margarita Robles suffered a GPS malfunction near Kaliningrad, while a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen got stuck en route to Bulgaria.
Estonia and neighboring Finland also accused Russia of disrupting GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace.
However, most modern aircraft and major airports have a variety of navigation tools available if the GPS encounters problems.
Kuliesius said mobile phone networks near Kaliningrad, Lithuania, were degraded in quality due to interference affecting some frequencies. Spoofing and jamming increased during Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russia.
“Online bus schedules in Klaipeda stop working during spikes because they rely on tracking buses with GPS,” he added, referring to a town 50 km from the border with Kaliningrad.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Riga; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
