Russia's electronic warfare campaign against the Baltic states has reached alarming proportions, with Lithuania recording a 22-fold increase in GPS coordinate spoofing incidents over the course of a year and Estonia reporting that 85 percent of its civil flights have experienced signal interference. The data appears in a comprehensive PISM report on the redefinition of security in the Baltic Sea Region, published in March 2026.
As "Hvylya" reports, citing the Polish Institute of International Affairs analysis, Russia employs electronic warfare systems both to jam GPS signals and to spoof them "by providing false positions." The interference originates primarily from the Kaliningrad region, where Baltic states recorded "a significant increase in the presence and intensity of Russian ECM and electronic reconnaissance activities" throughout 2025.
The jamming campaign carries risks beyond mere inconvenience. The PISM researchers warn that "Russia's intensification of GPS signal jamming not only hinders air and maritime communications but also creates the risk of serious accidents." For a region where maritime traffic has intensified sharply since 2022 - as Baltic states shifted energy imports from Russian pipelines to seaborne routes - navigational disruptions in congested waters pose a direct threat to shipping safety.
GPS interference is part of a broader hybrid escalation pattern that intensified dramatically in September 2025. During that month alone, Russia sent at least 21 drones into Polish territory, three MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace for approximately 12 minutes near the island of Vaindloo, and two Russian fighters flew at low altitude over a Polish drilling platform in the Baltic Sea. Airports in Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Lithuania were temporarily closed due to drone activity attributed to Russian operations.
The PISM report notes that electronic warfare and drone operations serve a strategic purpose beyond direct disruption - they force NATO countries to divert military resources to countering relatively low-cost threats. Each incident that requires scrambling fighter jets, closing an airport, or rerouting maritime traffic represents a Russian success in stretching Alliance capabilities across multiple domains simultaneously.
The researchers recommend that Baltic Sea Region states prioritize developing regional capabilities in electronic warfare and anti-drone systems as a matter of urgency. They also call for establishing a regional center of excellence that would address security across the Baltic, North Sea, and Arctic, facilitating the implementation of modern countermeasures and standardized response procedures.
Also read: Petraeus Warns U.S. Military Faces "Catastrophic" Failure in Autonomous Warfare Race.