London, May 25 (SANA) A plane carrying British Defense Secretary John Healey was reportedly targeted by electronic interference while flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad region during a return trip from Estonia, according to The Times newspaper.
The incident happened last Thursday after Healey visited British troops stationed in Estonia, The Times said. During the flight, the government aircraft temporarily lost its satellite connection, affecting internet access and navigation systems on board.
Military advisers, political staff and a Times reporter were travelling on the aircraft at the time, the newspaper reported.
According to the report, mobile phones and laptops onboard were unable to connect to the internet after the disruption. Pilots flying the Falcon 900LX aircraft were forced to switch to backup navigation methods after the plane’s GPS system stopped functioning during the roughly three-hour flight.
The Times said restoring the satellite link would have required rebooting the aircraft’s systems, something not possible while airborne. One pilot described the interference as highly unusual and said he had not encountered a similar incident in years.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense declined to comment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said GPS interference was not uncommon in the vicinity of Kaliningrad, Russia’s heavily militarized exclave on the Baltic Sea.
Western officials have repeatedly accused Russia of using electronic warfare systems to disrupt satellite navigation signals in parts of northern and eastern Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The incident follows a similar case in 2024 involving a plane carrying then-Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, which reportedly experienced GPS disruption while flying near Kaliningrad.
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