Baltic countries, after invasion alarm, GPS turned off: “Russian electronic warfare”

A maxi-NATO exercise in Europe, the largest since the end of the Cold War. The target? Organize a military response in the event of a Russian attack on Atlantic Pact territory. Training operations will take place between Poland, Germany and the Baltic countries. After Vladimir Putin’s threats, the defense system was activated. In the coming years, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will build a fortified zone on the border with the Federation and the announcement brings renewed attention to the Kremlin’s measures.

The news was released by Tallinn Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, who in a post on X emphasized the importance of “using time wisely to increase defense readiness”. The agreement was signed in Riga on Friday, January 19, and will aim to “deter and, if necessary, defend against a military threat”. But what triggered new and unexpected tensions? In September 2023, Riga required citizens of the Federation and Belarusians to present a certificate of proficiency in the Latvian language. Then, he announced the expulsion of those who failed the test. This decision would have left the Russian president furious.

The hypothesis on the table is that the Kremlin leader could use Russian citizens present in the three republics as a pretext to open a new front in the conflict. On December 27, Polish authorities recorded disruptions in the GPS network, which also spread to Finland, Sweden and Estonia the following month. On January 18, the tracking system was hit by a total blackout in the central and northern regions controlled by Warsaw. According to what some analysts have declared, it could be the work of Moscow. On many Telegram channels, we read: “Russian electronic warfare coming from Kaliningrad is causing huge GPS outages that have affected half of Poland and the Suwalki corridor.”