Russia believed to have jammed signal on UK defense minister”s plane –source

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 7, 2024. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/ Handout via REUTERS

LONDON — Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal on an aircraft used by defense minister Grant Shapps to travel from Poland back to Britain, a government source and journalists traveling with him said on Thursday.

According to a government source and journalists, the GPS signal was interfered with for about 30 minutes while the plane flew close to Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

Mobile phones could no longer connect to the internet and the aircraft was forced to use alternative methods to determine its location, they said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson confirmed the incident had happened on Wednesday but added it was “not unusual.”

“While traveling back from Poland yesterday, the plane carrying the Defense Secretary and his delegation temporarily experienced GPS jamming when they flew close to Kaliningrad,” the spokesperson said.

“It didn’t threaten the safety of the aircraft and it is not unusual for aircraft to experience GPS jamming near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory.” — Reuters