EU chief's plane GPS hit by radar jamming. A Russian operation behind it?

European Union's Chief Ursula von Der Leyen's plane's GPS system was hit by a radar jamming on Monday (September 1). A Russian operation is suspected behind it. The incident happened when the plane was trying to land in Bulgaria.

The commission received “information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this blatant interference was carried out by Russia,” a spokesperson told CNN. It was reported that the plane landed safely as the pilots used paper maps to make the landing, CNN reported.

Von der Leyen and the commission have been staunch supporters of Ukraine as Kyiv tries to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression.

Leyen was one of the leaders of the European Union who attended the US President Donald Trump’s summit on Ukraine last week. She urged EU member states to allocate more resources to helping Ukraine.

The incident of GPS malfunction occurred when she was touring member states in the eastern part of the bloc to rally support for Ukraine. “This incident underlines the urgency of the President’s current trip to frontline Member States, where she has seen first hand the every day threats from Russia and its proxies,” the commission spokesperson told CNN.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria's Government Information Service confirmed the incident. The Civil Aviation Authority directed the aircraft to land using ground-based navigation systems, which are independent of GPS and ensure safe landings.

Officials stressed the flight was not rerouted and landed in Plovdiv as planned. The aircraft was chartered by the European Commission.