Russia suspected of jamming navigation devices in airplane with European Commission president aboard

A plane with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen aboard was allegedly hit by GPS jamming over Bulgaria in a suspected Russian operation that jammed the craft's navigation equipment.

The claim was made by a commission spokeswoman and reported by the Associated Press.

The plane landed safely at an airport in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, and von der Leyen will continue her planned tour of the European Union’s nations bordering Russia and Belarus, said the commission’s spokesperson Arianna Podestà.

Von der Leyen, who is a sharp critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, is on a four-day tour of the EU nations bordering Russia and its ally Belarus, the wire service also reports.

Podestà said the assertion was made based on "information from the Bulgarian authority that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.”