Ukraine apologised to Lithuania on Sunday after its drones may have entered Lithuanian airspace during an operation against Russian military targets. Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said the incident may have resulted from Russian electronic warfare. An earlier version of his post also mentioned Latvia.
"We regret the incident that occurred this morning in Lithuanian airspace, which may have resulted from Russian electronic warfare diverting drones during an operation against legitimate military targets in Russia," Tykhyi wrote on X. He apologised for any disruption, risks and concern, and said Ukraine would share information with Lithuanian partners.
Darius Kuliesius, deputy head of Lithuania's communications regulator, told Reuters that GPS spoofing antennae in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave had risen from three in early 2025 to 36. He said the network could falsify signals across a radius of up to 450 km. Kaliningrad is a heavily militarised Russian territory between NATO members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic coast.
A map from the regulator indicated that the interference could reach Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, most of Poland, parts of Finland, Sweden and Belarus, and the Baltic Sea. Kuliesius said the range was estimated from disturbances in aviation ADS-B transmissions. He described the interference as systemic and said occasional disruption began with the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius.
GPS spoofing broadcasts false signals that confuse navigation systems. Kuliesius said mobile networks near Kaliningrad have also been degraded on some frequencies, and that spoofing and jamming intensify during Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia. In Klaipeda, about 50 km from the Kaliningrad border, online bus schedules stop working during the spikes because buses are tracked by GPS. Most modern passenger aircraft and major airports have other navigation tools if GPS fails.
Russia has frequently denied accusations of electronic interference. The Russian embassy in Vilnius did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On May 19, a Romanian NATO fighter jet shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia after it entered from Russia, the Estonian military said. The drone crossed southeastern Estonia around noon and was hit at 12.14 pm with a single missile during heavy Russian electronic warfare, including GPS spoofing and jamming. NATO confirmed the shoot-down, said an investigation was under way, and said the alliance was ready to respond to air threats.
Latvia issued an air threat alert the same day after a drone entered its airspace. Residents near the Russian border were told to stay indoors, and NATO Baltic Air Policing jets were summoned. Local media reported train suspensions, a halt to national examinations for ninth-grade students and the closure of grocery shops. It was not clear whether the drone was the same aircraft reported over Estonia.
Lithuania and Latvia blamed Moscow and said Ukraine had the right to strike Russian military targets, while stressing that attacks had not been launched from their territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the previous week that Ukraine would send experts to Latvia to help protect its skies.
Last year, a Spanish military jet carrying Defence Minister Margarita Robles experienced GPS disruption near Kaliningrad, and a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was jammed on the way to Bulgaria. Estonia and Finland have also blamed Russia for jamming GPS in regional airspace.
On May 15, Finnish authorities warned of suspected drone activity around Helsinki. The airport suspended traffic for three hours and fighter jets were scrambled; no drones were found. Since March, Ukrainian military drones have entered the airspace of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The Latvian government resigned the week before the May 19 incidents over its handling of the incursions.