For Ukrainian tech specialist Roman, Tuesday morning didn’t go as planned. He spent half the night lying in bed, listening to explosions from yet another Russian drone attack on Kyiv. Then, he couldn’t get a taxi to make it to his early workout at the gym. When he finally arrived, he discovered he was more than an hour late because his phone had been using a different time zone.

Roman — who asked not to be identified — said he was initially confused and thought something was wrong with his phone. He went to grab a cup of coffee instead of attending his missed workout class, and he realized that many Ukrainians had faced similar disruptions.

Some arrived late to work, others overslept, and some missed important calls. The cause? Their devices had suddenly switched locations from Kyiv to Russian cities like Moscow, Bryansk, Kursk or Belgorod, which are in a Russian time zone to the east. 

Мій телефон сказав що я в білорусі і що в мене 22 години вечора. А я подумала що я кукухою їду і десь загубила цілу годину 🫠 pic.twitter.com/fIU9JPE0fk

— нейрожінка (@weird_fish17) October 31, 2024

Following the confusion, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces issued a statement explaining that disruptions to smartphone clocks or GPS signals may occur due to the use of electronic warfare (EW) systems to counter Russian air attacks.

According to Ukrainian military officials, the EW systems spoof GPS satellite navigation signals. The fake signals can help hijack a drone, steering it toward an unintended location or even causing it to crash. 

The spoofing also can affect civilian mobile devices, unintentionally tricking them into displaying incorrect locations or times. This interference can impact map applications or other navigation tools, steering users into wrong turns or other confusing situations.

To avoid this issue, Ukrainian electronic warfare specialists recommend disabling automatic time adjustment on user devices.

Many confused Ukrainians went to social media to share their experiences with GPS spoofing.

“Friends, if you don’t want to mess up like I did, turn off the automatic time change on your phone. You might be late, thinking you overslept, but in reality, your phone might be on Kursk time, damn it," one of the users wrote:

Друзі, якщо не хочете лохонутись так само, як я, виключіть на телефоні автоматичну зміну часу. Ви можете запізнюватись, думати, що ви проспали, а насправді у вас може бути КУРСЬКИЙ БЛЯДЬ ЧАС!

— Орест (@kztsky) November 5, 2024

Combat in the skies

Over the past two months, only one night in Ukraine passed without a Russian airstrike. From September to October, the Ukrainian military tracked a record 3,482 unmanned aerial vehicles launched against Ukraine’s civilian and military targets. Although most drones were intercepted, debris from downed aircraft damaged or ignited dozens of residential buildings. 

In addition to EW technology, Ukraine’s military fights Russian drones with anti-aircraft missiles, traditional aircraft and mobile fire groups — units of soldiers in small vehicles equipped with surface-to-air weapons. 

Both Ukraine and Russia use EW  systems to locate, disrupt and jam GPS technology with signals such as radar or radio and infrared transmissions. 

Russia in particular has invested heavily in a wide range of equipment — from tactical close-range systems to technology that can disrupt enemy operations over dozens of kilometers.

Earlier this year, state officials from Lithuania and Estonia accused Russia of interfering with navigation signals after two flights from Helsinki to the Estonian city of Tartu experienced GPS jamming and turned back mid-flight.

In another incident, GPS on a jet carrying U.K. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was jammed by Russia as it flew over Kaliningrad, a Russian territory between Poland and Lithuania.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called GPS jamming “a deliberate hybrid attack” by Russia, adding that such interference constitutes “a breach of international conventions.”