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Baltic Sea Airspace Flooded With GPS Interference, Authorities Point to Russia
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Civilian ships and aircraft operating in the Baltic Sea region have increasingly relied on older, non-satellite navigation methods after a rise in interference that Swedish and Finnish authorities have linked to Russia, Yle reported on January 13, 2026.
The outlet mentioned that some airports in eastern Finland began bringing back radio-based Distance Measuring Equipment, a system developed in the 1960s, to support landings when GPS disruptions are detected.
Yle also reported that researchers at Finland’s National Land Survey are developing a device intended to detect interference in real time, quoting senior researcher Mika Saajasto as saying: “We are currently developing a prototype device that will detect interference in real time and warn the user about it.”
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Sweden’s transport agency Transportstyrelsen has said it receives reports of satellite-navigation interference “almost daily” from aircraft in the region and that it recorded 733 occurrences in Swedish airspace in 2025 up to August 28, compared with 495 in all of 2024, adding that “the source of the interference has been traced to Russian territory.” Russia has denied involvement, according to Yle.
The disruptions have also affected maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland, where Estonia’s ERR cited Finnish authorities as reporting a sharp increase in satellite-navigation incidents affecting both aviation and water traffic.
In the official guidance, authorities warned operators not to rely on a single electronic source of positioning, saying: “You should always look at at least two systems and also keep your eyes open to make sure where you are.”
Earlier, it was reported that Poland experienced widespread GPS disruptions across its airspace over the Baltic Sea, which officials linked to hostile actions by Russia affecting both civilian and military navigation systems.
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