Russia accused of GPS attack on Spanish plane carrying defense minister en route to Lithuania

A Spanish Air Force Airbus A330 carrying Defense Minister Margarita Robles suffered an electronic disturbance while flying over the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on its way to Lithuania, authorities said, in what is being treated as a possible GPS interference incident.

Robles was heading to meet Lithuanian defense minister Dovile Sakaliene at the Siauliai airbase in northern Lithuania on Wednesday morning, according to the Spanish government’s agenda. Several relatives of Spanish airmen serving in the NATO air defense mission on the border with Russia were aboard the aircraft with Robles. The incident comes amid heightened tension as Moscow has tested NATO’s readiness to respond to threats.

The latest development follows a string of charges and countercharges over Russia’s electronic warfare activities in Europe. Danish officials have suggested that Russia may have been behind a swarm of drones that disrupted Copenhagen airport, closing the facility to air traffic and leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Danish intelligence has since warned of a “high threat of sabotage,” saying an adversary could seek to stress NATO members by provoking a reaction rather than delivering a direct attack, according to comments from Flemming Drejer, Denmark’s Director of Operations at the intelligence service PET.

The episode also echoes a separate episode weeks earlier when Russia was suspected of jamming a jet carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Bulgaria. The aircraft forced to land at Plovdiv using only paper maps after the GPS navigation system was disabled, Bulgarian authorities told the European Commission. European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta confirmed that Bulgarian authorities suspected Russian interference and said there was GPS jamming in the airport area.

Officials described GPS jamming or spoofing as a tactic to disrupt satellite-based navigation, a method Russia has previously used to impede civilian life and protect sensitive locations. The technique has historically been associated with military and intelligence operations, raising concerns among European leaders about the resilience of civilian aviation and cross-border mission deployments.

The incident involving Robles comes as Europe assesses security risks near NATO borders amid ongoing tensions with Russia. While investigators determine the exact cause of the disturbance on the Spanish aircraft, officials say more details will emerge as probes continue and as allied intelligence corroborates the events surrounding these demonstrations of electronic warfare capabilities. More to follow.