EU chief Von der Leyen's plane 'attacked in Russian GPS strike' over Bulgaria

EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen (Image: Getty)

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen's personal plane was hit by suspected Russian jamming in a horror incident that saw pilots forced to land the plane using paper maps. A jet carrying von der Leyen to Plovdiv, Bulgaria on Sunday afternoon reportedly lost all electronic navigational aids while on approach to the city’s airport and, according to sources, the incident is now being treated as a Russian interference operation.

"The whole airport area GPS went dark," one of the officials told the Financial Times. "It was undeniable interference," said the source, who claimed pilots then circled the airport for an hour before making the decision to land using paper charts. Von der Leyen was travelling from Warsaw to meet Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and visit a defence factory.

The pilot was forced to circle the airport for an hour. (Image: Getty)

She said during the trip: "Putin has not changed, and he will not change. He is a predator. He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence."

The EU chief was able to leave Bulgaria on the same plane without facing any more interference.

Plovdiv International Airport's GPS could have been jammed or spoofed, which distort or completely block access to satellite-based navigation stystems.

Traditionally used by militaries to guard sensitive sites, they overwhelm the system receiver with powerful radio signals that drown out the legitimate satellite signals, leaving it unable to accurately determine its position or time.

Jamming incidents became frequent in the Baltic Sea and eastern European countries near Russia, affecting not just planes, but boats and civilian GPS devices also.

Moscow was recently accused of GPS jamming after a suspected Ukrainian combat drone crashed and detonated in a farmer's field in Estonia.

The unmanned aircraft is believed to have struck the ground in the southern region of the NATO member on August 24, though wreckage wasn't discovered until the day after.

Estonian officials believe the aerial vehicle was targeting locations within Russia but was knocked off its intended path due to Russian GPS interference and electronic warfare tactics.