Scale of GPS malfunctions expands, Russia is responsible, Finnish foreign minister says

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has reported that Finland has noticed increased activity by Russia recently in jamming GPS signals in the Gulf of Finland and around the eastern border.

Source: Finnish public broadcaster Yle, citing Valtonen, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The broadcaster previously reported a surge in GPS jamming in the Gulf of Finland and around the eastern border.

Pilots in Finland have also reported hundreds of cases of GPS failures affecting air traffic over the past year.

"I will not give an exact date, but it is obvious that the scale of GPS jamming has expanded during Russia's aggressive war and has changed its form in many ways," the Finnish foreign minister said.

Valtonen noted that GPS jamming may affect civil aviation, but there is no cause for concern.

The minister stressed that air traffic in Finland is safe and that GPS malfunctions have not caused any incidents in the air.

The minister noted that aircraft have alternative navigation tools in case GPS equipment is temporarily unavailable.

Valtonen added that the jamming may be related to Russia's attempts to protect its own critical infrastructure amid the war it has been waging against Ukraine.

The minister further noted that Finland, together with its NATO and EU allies, is working "to find different ways to continue normal life and, on the other hand, to possibly counteract this situation".

Background:

• The Finnish transport and communications agency Traficom suggested earlier that the jamming of GPS signals over the Baltic Sea was "most likely" a side effect of Russia's efforts against drones.
• The Baltic states have noted that the GPS jamming Russia is accused of could cause an air catastrophe.

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