Support The Moscow Times!

Russia Tricks GPS Signals to Hide Putin’s Location, Report Says

Valery Sharifulin / TASS

Russia has extensively deployed electronic warfare capabilities to hide President Vladimir Putin’s location, a U.S.-based research group said in a recent report.

The report suggests that GPS spoofing extends far beyond previously recorded instances in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where drivers passing by the Kremlin or Putin’s known whereabouts have seen their navigation software “teleport” them to locations several miles away.

Russia carried out 9,883 spoofing operations throughout Russia, annexed Crimea and Syria between February 2016 and November 2018, the C4ADS conflict research group said in a report based on publicly available data released last week.

The group said it found a “close correlation” between Putin’s movements and the false GPS signals that send navigation systems off-kilter.

C4ADS said the spoofing shows “these activities are much larger in scope, more diverse in geography and longer in duration” than previously reported. They also appear “far more indiscriminate, persistent and widespread,” the group said.

Though seemingly designed to stop drones from flying into restricted airspace, C4ADS said the “spillover” effect has also reached nearby civilian ships, often placing them deep inland.

The report demonstrates Russia’s “comparative advantage” in spoofing capabilities “to achieve tactical and strategic objectives at home and abroad.” However, C4ADS warned that the technology’s low cost, availability and ease of deployment could risk it being used for criminal purposes.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more