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UKRAINE WAR CYBER JAMMING The Military Show ... RUSSIA Targets EU Leader’s AIRCRAFT… Then THIS Happens Original article:
RUSSIA Targets EU Leader’s AIRCRAFT… Then THIS Happens The Military Show Sep 2, 2025 #themilitaryshow #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign escalated on September 1 when the aircraft carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was hit by GPS jamming over Bulgarian airspace. The disruption, confirmed by Bulgarian authorities, forced air traffic control to switch to terrestrial navigation methods to ensure a safe landing. The incident comes just days before the EU’s 19th sanctions package against Russia is set to be unveiled, adding to the 2,782 sanctions already in place. Reports note that tens of thousands of GPS interference cases have been recorded across Europe since 2022, underscoring the growing threat. Despite Russian denials, the EU is preparing both sanctions and new satellite defense measures to counter future hybrid attacks. Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: / @themilitaryshow #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/ukQtVApE How this content was made Auto-dubbed Audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated. Learn more The Military Show 1.84M subscribers Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 With so much focus placed on the devastating conventional war raging in Ukraine, it’s often 0:06 easy to forget that there is a wider hybrid war happening at this very same moment. Targeting 0:12 almost all of Europe, Russia uses deceptive tactics and indirect assaults to threaten, 0:18 cajole, intimidate, and, in some cases, cause real damage to those it perceives as its enemies. 0:25 But now, Russia has gone too far. It has targeted a European Union, 0:30 or EU, leader’s aircraft in an attack unlike any other it has launched in recent memory. 0:36 But the EU isn’t taking this lying down, as it’s already formulating a response. 0:42 Russia’s latest hybrid attack was against the President of the European Commission, or EC, 0:47 Ursula von der Leyen, and the BBC was among the first to report on it on September 1. Of course, 0:54 Russia didn’t launch missiles or try to shoot von der Leyen’s plane out of the skies. That 0:59 would have been a very direct assault that would have incurred the wrath of the EU and, 1:03 potentially, NATO, perhaps leading to an all-out war. Instead, Russia was far sneakier, 1:10 as the BBC reports that it disrupted von der Leyen’s flight using GPS jamming techniques that 1:15 are designed to throw the delicate equipment used in aircraft into complete disarray. 1:20 Russia’s GPS attack took place as the EU chief’s aircraft flew in Bulgarian airspace, 1:26 causing chaos as her plane prepared to land for von der Leyen to carry out a visit to the 1:31 country. The EC President has spent the last few days touring several countries in Europe 1:37 in an attempt to get a first-hand understanding of the hybrid warfare techniques that Russia has 1:43 been using against those countries. Perhaps Putin decided that would be the perfect opportunity for 1:49 him to show von der Leyen precisely what Russia is capable of in the hybrid arena. 1:55 Confirmation of the GPS jamming came from the Bulgarian government, which said, “the satellite 2:01 signal transmitting information to the plane's GPS navigation system was neutralised,” during 2:07 the flight. Thankfully, Bulgarian Air Traffic Control and von der Leyen’s pilot acted quickly. 2:14 “To ensure the flight's safety, air control services immediately offered an alternative 2:18 landing method using terrestrial navigation tools,” the Bulgarian government stated. 2:24 So, no harm has come to the EC President. But make no mistake about it – this was as 2:30 direct an attack against a major European leader as Russia dares to make outside of 2:36 the confines of the Ukraine war. The EU Commission’s spokesperson, 2:40 Arianna Podesta, was quick to shed light on exactly what everybody knows Russia is 2:45 attempting to do with attacks like these. “We have received information from the Bulgarian 2:50 authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” said Podesta. 2:57 “We are, of course, aware and used to the threats and intimidations that are a regular 3:01 component of Russia’s hostile behavior. Of course, this will only reinforce even 3:07 further our unshakable commitment to ramp up defense capabilities and support for 3:12 Ukraine. This incident actually underlines the urgency of the mission that the president is 3:18 carrying out in the front-line member states.” Russia is attempting to intimidate the EU. 3:24 It looks like the EU isn’t going to budge. The word “attack” has been used here several 3:30 times already to describe this incident. To some, that may seem like a strange word to use, 3:36 given that Russia fired no missiles and sent no fighter jets to shoot von der 3:40 Leyen’s plane out of the skies. However, GPS jamming is a very dangerous hybrid warfare 3:46 technique that shouldn’t be underestimated. If things had gone wrong, von der Leyen 3:52 could have suffered a very nasty “accident.” GPS jamming involves a country using special 3:58 jamming devices from the ground that send out strong signals to an aircraft. These signals 4:03 overwhelm the signals from the GPS satellites that are used by an aircraft’s navigation system, 4:09 sending these systems haywire. Due to this interference, a plane’s pilot can lose access 4:14 to all of their aircraft’s geolocation data, potentially causing them to fly off course. 4:20 In the worst cases, the pilot may lose their way to such an extent that they accidentally 4:25 enter enemy airspace or fly too far from their intended landing spot, causing them 4:31 to not have enough fuel to make a safe landing. Russia has also been using these types of jamming 4:37 techniques against NATO-aligned ships, especially in the Baltic Sea. Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, 4:44 Sweden, Finland, and even Poland and Germany have all been affected by these kinds of attacks. Air 4:50 and Space Forces Magazine says that it’s not quite clear why these attacks are happening. 4:55 “Is it just spillover from Russian air defense and force protection measures—jamming GPS so Ukrainian 5:01 drones can’t use it to find their Russian targets? Or is it something more deliberate, targeted at 5:07 GPS in non-combatant countries?” the outlet asks. The former might be an excuse that Russia 5:13 could use for GPS jamming in the Baltic states, which border Russia and Ukraine. 5:19 But Bulgaria? Accidental overshoots of jamming signals intended for Ukrainiadn aircraft seem 5:25 like a bit of a stretch in a country that is separated from Ukraine by Romania and Moldova. 5:30 This had to be deliberate. But the fact that questions have 5:34 to be asked at all is what makes these kinds of attacks effective. If Russia were to launch 5:39 a missile at von der Leyen’s plane, it wouldn’t be able to hide away from what it had done. The 5:44 missile itself would be analyzed. It would be obvious where it came from. With GPS jamming, 5:50 Russia gets plausible deniability in case something goes wrong. Its intention may be 5:56 to just intimidate a key EU leader. But if that intimidation attempt spiraled into von der Leyen’s 6:02 plane crashing, Russia would be able to hold its hands up and say “it wasn’t us” in a way that it 6:07 simply couldn’t with a missile attack. Nobody would believe Russia. 6:12 But when has that ever stopped Russia from making claims before? 6:16 In fact, denial is exactly the path that Russia has chosen in the wake of the accusations of 6:21 GPS jamming against von der Leyen’s aircraft. Hours after Bulgaria revealed that GPS jamming 6:28 had been used to target von der Leyen’s flight, Russia delivered a blunt response, according to 6:33 Sky News. “Your information is incorrect,” was the only thing the Kremlin said about the accusations 6:40 of Russian GPS jamming, which is precisely how you should expect Russia to act in these situations. 6:47 It is clearly at fault for this jamming incident. No other country in Europe has any reason to jam 6:52 the GPS signals on the flight of a major EU head. Just as with the false news it spreads, 6:59 the cyberattacks it launches, and the social media bots it uses to influence other nations, 7:05 Russia is doing what it always does. Deny, deny, deny. 7:10 But even if one was naïve enough to take the Kremlin’s response at face value until further 7:16 investigations are conducted, the circumstantial evidence that this was a Russian hybrid warfare 7:22 tactic is just too obvious to ignore. There’s the timing for one thing. 7:27 Already mentioned was that von der Leyen was on a tour of several European countries when her plane 7:32 was targeted. That tour has taken her to several of the EU member states that either border Russia 7:39 or are very close to the country, and von der Leyen was in those countries to see first-hand 7:43 the challenges created by the threats and hybrid warfare strategies that Russia leverages. 7:50 There is almost a sick sense of humor involved here, with Russia perhaps wanting 7:54 to send a message to von der Leyen: No matter what’s figured out, 7:58 Russia will continue to do as it pleases. Beyond the tour, this GPS jamming attack 8:04 also happened to take place on the eve of the EU implementing its 19th round of sanctions against 8:10 Russia. These sanctions are always designed to cause as much economic harm as possible, be that 8:16 to Russian individuals, companies, institutions, or Russia itself. And according to Castellum, 8:22 the EU already has 2,782 sanctions against Russia, 2,534 of which have been put in place since Putin 8:31 launched his invasion. Beyond that, several EU member states have also implemented sanctions. 8:38 France has 2,711, for instance. Other European countries that aren’t part of the EU are also 8:45 sanctioning Russia. Switzerland and the U.K., for instance, have 4,029 and 2,333 8:53 sanctions in place as of this moment. The news of a 19th round of sanctions 8:58 being put in place may have triggered Putin into action. According to Politico, these new 9:04 sanctions will be implemented sometime in early September, and it was von der Leyen herself who 9:09 announced them. Standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in mid-August, 9:15 she said, “As long as the bloodshed in Ukraine continues, Europe will maintain diplomatic and, 9:21 in particular, economic pressure on Russia. We have adopted 18 packages so far, and we 9:26 are advancing preparation for the 19th. This package will be forthcoming in early September.” 9:32 Von der Leyen emphasized at the time that this latest round of sanctions is being 9:37 designed to show Russia that the EU is serious. Perhaps Russia’s GPS jamming of the EC President’s 9:44 flight was supposed to convey the same message. Ironically, it’s not yet known what this 19th 9:50 package of sanctions is even going to contain yet. There’s speculation, of course. On August 29, 9:56 Euronews said that the EU may finally be considering implementing sanctions against the 10:01 nations that are helping Russia evade existing sanctions. If so, such action would be a long 10:07 time coming. The 27 foreign affairs ministers of the EU met in Copenhagen on August 30 to 10:14 discuss what the latest package will look like. Again, no details have come out of that meeting, 10:19 and it’s likely there won’t be more revealed until the sanctions are officially unveiled. However, 10:25 Euronews says that an interesting paper has emerged from the Danish presidency of the 10:30 EU Council that suggests attacking those who are helping Russia would have been a 10:34 topic of discussion during the meeting. The paper’s most notable suggestion, 10:39 Euronews reports, “is the activation of the 'Anti-Circumvention Tool' that the bloc 10:44 introduced two years ago to punish countries that help Russia get hold of the critical 10:49 goods and materials forbidden by the West.” The paper concludes with a simple question: 10:54 “Are we ready to apply the tool?” Perhaps the EU is ready, and Putin knows it. 11:00 Russia may have used its GPS jamming attack as a last-ditch attempt to intimidate the EC 11:05 President into reconsidering sanctions that Putin knows will cause severe damage. “We targeted your 11:12 plane with an inconsequential attack today,” Russia might be saying. “Tomorrow…who knows?” 11:18 It’s also hard to ignore the fact that what happened to von der Leyen appears to be the 11:23 latest in a series of similar incidents, all targeting the EU or other European countries. 11:29 Wait, a series? Try tens of thousands. 11:33 That’s how many incidents of GPS jamming the BBC says have been reported by airlines operating 11:39 around the Baltic coast since Russia invaded Ukraine. One of the most notable of these took 11:44 place in March 2024, the outlet says, when a Royal Air Force aircraft that was carrying former U.K. 11:51 Defence Secretary Grant Schapps was targeted with a GPS spoofing attack. GPS spoofing differs from 11:58 jamming as the latter blocks signals, while the former replaces those signals with fake 12:03 ones. The U.K. plane has been flying close to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and this incident 12:09 shows us that Russia is no stranger to targeting prominent figures with its hybrid warfare tactics. Bulgaria’s Air Traffic Services have also noted a sharp uptick in GPS jamming and spoofing. “Since February 2022, there has been a notable increase in [GPS] jamming and recently spoofing occurrences. These interferences disrupt the accurate reception of [GPS] signals, leading to various operational challenges for aircraft and ground systems,” the air traffic services said in a statement. By this point, it’s almost impossible for anybody to believe Russia’s claim that it wasn’t behind the attack on von der Leyen’s plane. There’s only one logical question: if not Russia, then who? There is no other logical answer, as it’s only Russia that has both the motive and the means to launch these kinds of attacks against prominent EU figures. It’s all very simple. 13:02 Russia is trying to intimidate the EU. But it has failed, and now the EU is preparing a response. The 19th sanctions package has already been mentioned, which was in the works before the GPS jamming and will certainly be announced in the coming days. However, the EU is also putting plans in place to make Russia’s jamming attacks less effective in the future. That’s according to the EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, who announced after this most recent incident that the EU is going to deploy new satellites that will operate in low Earth orbit. Those satellites will bolster Europe’s collective ability to detect attempted GPS interference, perhaps buying those affected more time to make key decisions to ensure the safety of their aircraft and the people they’re transporting. Beyond these satellites, the EU is also doing something else: It’s creating precise plans to send troops into Ukraine. That’s according to Reuters, which reported on August 31 that the EU is planning some sort of 14:02 multinational troop deployment into Ukraine as part of a post-conflict security guarantee to be delivered to the country. This plan could involve tens of thousands of troops, Reuters says, citing a report by the Financial Times. Those troops will be led by Europe and receive support from the U.S. in several ways, including the provision of intelligence and surveillance assets and the use of control and command systems that are already stationed in European countries. Von der Leyen is certainly confident that the U.S. will play a significant role, as she explains. “President Trump reassured us that there will be (an) American presence as part of the backstop. That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed,” she is reported to have told The Financial Times. Precisely how these tens of thousands of soldiers will be used remains to be seen. They may help Ukraine to staff a demilitarized zone across the border it shares with Russia, or perhaps across the current frontline of the Ukraine war if that zone is put into place as 15:03 part of a ceasefire. There also seems to be a possibility that European troops will operate deep inside Ukraine as a sort of back-up force to the Ukrainian military that is responsible for training and ongoing support. All of the potential options were just explored in a recent video, so check it out to learn more. Interestingly, there are barriers that could get in the way of this new plan. The obvious one is Russia itself. In the wake of Putin’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska, Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov was quick to warn the West that Russia is opposed to any sort of proposal that suggests NATO troops will operate on Ukraine’s territory as part of a peace settlement. “In fact, at the very beginning, it was the advancement of NATO military infrastructure and the infiltration of this military infrastructure into Ukraine that could probably be named among the root causes of the conflict situation that arose,” Peskov claimed. “So we have a negative attitude towards these discussions.” 16:04 Of course, the majority of the EU’s members are also part of NATO. Any refusal of NATO troops in Ukraine is tantamount to a refusal of European troops, for the most part. Far more surprising is the opposition coming from inside the EU. According to a September 1 report by Politico, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has publicly criticized von der Leyen for discussing plans to send EU troops into Ukraine. Pistorius claims that it is “fundamentally wrong” for such discussions to be taking place right now. Speaking to the press in the German town of Troisdorf, he said, “The European Union has no responsibilities and no competences when it comes to deploying troops — for anyone or for anything. I would refrain from confirming or commenting on such considerations in any way.” Weighing possibilities is fine, as long as it takes place behind closed doors until all members are in agreement. The discussions need to be had. But to come out and claim 17:04 that there is already a precise plan in place is “totally wrong,” Pistorius says. This response is worrisome. It suggests that there is no actual plan yet. Von der Leyen may have jumped the gun in an attempt to use Russia’s intimidation tactics against it with her comments. Or, perhaps Pistorius is out of line to be so publicly disputing what the EC President is saying. Either way, Putin will be rubbing his hands with glee. After all, what are the purposes of a hybrid warfare campaign? Sow discord. Create confusion. Turn allies against one another by forcing them to argue about what they need to do to confront a nebulous threat that is very different from the traditional war that Ukraine has been forced to deal with. In that sense, one could argue that Russia has already achieved precisely what it wanted to achieve with its GPS jamming of von der Leyen’s plane. Sure, von der Leyen may not be intimidated by Russia. But now, she’s butting heads with one of the 18:02 most important military voices in the EU, which can only spell bad things for an organization that needs to be taking a collective approach to the threat that Russia poses. All of this casts doubt on what the future may hold. Von der Leyen is saying there’s a plan in place, while Pistorius says that it’s irresponsible for such things to be said publicly. All the while, Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign against Europe will escalate. That’s according to The Atlantic Council. Just days before the GPS jamming attack on von der Leyen’s plan, it published an article pointing out how the hybrid war is getting ever more serious. The article’s author, Maksym Beznosiuk, writes that Russia has spent over a decade refining its hybrid warfare playbook. Many of the tactics happening today were created or refined during Russia’s first campaign of aggression against Ukraine. In this area, the EU is a long way behind Russia. “Russia favors hybrid warfare as this allows the Kremlin to destabilize Europe and undermine support for Ukraine without 19:04 crossing the threshold and provoking a military response. Europe’s reaction to Putin’s hybrid war tactics has also been hampered by a lack of coordination among target countries,” Beznosiuk argues. He has a good point. That lack of coordination is apparent right now. Perhaps what the EU needs to realize is that Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign is an attack on the very consciousness of the European continent. It’s as much psychological as it is physical, with the goal being to create issues, any issues, between those who must be allied to deal with Russia. Von der Leyen and Pistorius need to get on the same page, as do all of the nations that comprise the EU. If they don’t, Russia will just keep on doing what it’s doing. An entire continent could end up suffering as a result. There is at least one way that European countries are preparing to counteract Russia’s aggression. 20:00 Several are working on reviving an age-old strategy that will prove immensely effective against Russia’s tanks. Finland and Poland are among those nations, and their plan will literally sink Russian tanks that try to attack them. Find out more in our video, and remember to subscribe to The Military Show for more videos covering Russia’s latest attempts to destabilize Europe.

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