Russia responds to accusations of jamming von der Leyen jet’s GPS

Moscow has dismissed the allegations as “preposterous”

Russia has strongly rejected claims that it attempted to jam the GPS system of a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

According to Brussels, the alleged incident occurred during von der Leyen’s trip to Bulgaria last week.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the allegations “preposterous” and “100% false.”

She added that Moscow will continue to combat “the West’s web of lies” aimed at discrediting Russia on the world stage.

Zakharova suggested the claims were meant to distract the public from “actual events,” including problems with the EU’s economy and the recent summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, China, which concluded on Monday.

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“It is not just paranoia, but a cynical plot to distract their own population from the EU’s worsening economic situation and from considering the real culprits behind the European crisis – the irresponsible, kleptocratic political elites of the European Union,” she said.

Zakharova pointed to data from the flight-tracking website Flightradar24, which indicated that von der Leyen’s jet “reported good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing.”

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said on Tuesday that the incident would not be investigated, stating that “these disturbances are neither hybrid nor cyber threats,” according to Politico.

Since 2024, the Nordic and Baltic countries have accused Russia of disrupting communications on planes and ships as a form of “hybrid warfare,” allegations Russia has denied.