Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian Jamming, Forced to Land with Paper Maps

A concerning incident occurred involving European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen's personal plane. The aircraft, en route to Plovdiv, Bulgaria on a Sunday afternoon, experienced a complete loss of electronic navigational aids while approaching the airport. Sources indicate that the incident is now being investigated as a potential Russian interference operation.

According to reports, the entire airport area's GPS signal was disrupted. Pilots were forced to circle the airport for an hour before making the decision to land using traditional paper charts. Von der Leyen was traveling from Warsaw to meet with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and visit a defense factory. She later commented on the situation, stating that Putin remains unchanged and can only be deterred through strong measures. The EU chief was able to depart Bulgaria on the same plane without further issues.

The disruption could have been caused by GPS jamming or spoofing, techniques that distort or block access to satellite-based navigation systems. These methods, traditionally employed by militaries, involve overwhelming the system receiver with powerful radio signals, rendering it unable to accurately determine its position. Such incidents have become increasingly common in the Baltic Sea and Eastern European countries near Russia, affecting not only aircraft but also ships and civilian GPS devices.

Moscow has recently faced accusations of GPS jamming following the crash of a suspected Ukrainian combat drone in Estonia. Estonian officials believe the drone was targeting locations within Russia but was diverted from its intended path due to Russian GPS interference and electronic warfare tactics.