An expert has issued a chilling World War Three warning after Russia has allegedly starting jamming GPS signalls in the Baltic and Black Seas.
War author Keir Giles, who specialises in Russian affairs, says it could be a precursor to war in the region, with the actions thought to be “part of a much broader campaign,” reports the Mirror US.
He said: “It should be seen as part of the Russian efforts to target Europe alongside the people who have been arrested for sabotage and reconnoitering logistic networks. Russia is essentially conducting warfare against Europe.
“One of the things identified as what Russia would probably do before launching its next invasion of a European country is looking at ways they could stop reinforcement reaching it, to stop NATO moving across Europe.
He concluded by saying: “So, anything that prevents movement and that includes the GPS jamming, the sabotage of railway networks, it includes all the different things we’ve seen Russia doing. It’s a useful and helpful preparation for mounting an invasion.”
Keir Giles, a security expert, has raised the alarm over Russia‘s increasing GPS jamming tactics along its borders since 2018.
He expressed concern that Europe’s lack of response is essentially an open invitation for Russia to escalate its aggressive actions.
The tactic, Giles says, goes back to 2018, when reports of GPS jamming along the Russian border began. He said the reports have steadily been increasing in intensity and that they’ve even become normalized.
Giles says that is a dangerous thing to have happened, as he said Europe is essentially inviting Russia to attack at that point, sending messages that what Russia is doing is alright.
“Because it’s been introduced incrementally, there hasn’t been any response in terms of trying to prevent the Russians from doing it,” Giles remarked on the growing threat. “So, it’s getting worse and worse.”
He added that Russia is now signal-jamming even more “because there’s no response from Europe.”
The expert explained: “Because there have been no repercussions, it’s an open invitation to push further and see how much damage they can do.”
“Because there have been no repercussions, it’s an open invitation to push further and see how much damage they can do.”
“There are whole swathes of the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea where airlines are just not expecting to have GPS service,” he said. “That includes things like collision avoidance, terrain avoidance even telling the time.”
The Financial Times revealed last week that two Finnish flights navigating the region had to abort their journeys mid-flight due to GPS loss, endangering both crew and passengers.
According to The Guardian, British flights have also been affected by signal jamming, with thousands reportedly impacted by Russia‘s purported actions since August 2023. Since around 2018, a staggering 46,000 planes have been affected, the newspaper reported.
Foreign ministers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have issued separate alerts, each stating they will raise the issue of GPS interference with their allies.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told the Financial Times, “If someone turns off your headlights while you are driving at night, it becomes dangerous. The situation in the Baltic region near the Russian border is now too dangerous to ignore.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tahkna also weighed in, saying, “We consider what is happening with GPS as part of Russia‘s hostile activities and will definitely discuss it with our allies. Such actions are a hybrid attack and a threat to our people and security, and we will not tolerate them.”
Not only planes but also boats have been victims of the GPS jamming, struggling to navigate the oceans safely.
UNN, a Ukrainian-based news outlet, has identified at least three sources of the GPS interference. One is in Kaliningrad, a Russian city sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea.
Another is somewhere near Estonia and Finland, while a third is reportedly further north, closer to Norway and Finland.
