Russia ‘extremely irresponsible’ in ‘jamming signals’ on RAF plane carrying Defense Secretary

Russia is believed to have jammed satellite signals on board an RAF plane that was bringing Defense Secretary Grant Shapps back to the UK from Poland.

The plane’s GPS signal was disrupted for about 30 minutes on Wednesday while flying near the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, The Times reported.

The phone was unable to connect to the internet and the Dassault 900LX Falcon jet had to use alternative methods to determine its location.

Shapps was returning with his staff and several reporters from a military training range in Orzice, Poland, where he watched hundreds of soldiers take part in Exercise Resolute Defender, NATO’s largest since the Cold War. exercise.

Experts told The Times it was unclear whether Shapps was targeted, but the plane’s flight path could be seen on aircraft tracking websites.

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A defense source told the newspaper: “While the RAF is well prepared to deal with this issue, it still poses unnecessary risks to civilian aircraft and could endanger people’s lives.

“There is no excuse for this, it is extremely irresponsible on the part of Russia.”

A spokesman for Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed the incident happened on Wednesday, but added it was “not unusual”.

They said: “This does not threaten the safety of the aircraft. It is not uncommon for aircraft to encounter GPS interference near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory.”

The Defense Department has not yet commented.

Kaliningrad is separated from mainland Russia and located between Poland and Lithuania.

It is Russia’s only ice-free port on the Baltic Sea.

Britain’s relations with Russia have deteriorated in recent years, especially after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.