LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A British Royal Air Force plane carrying the UK defense minister had its signal jammed as it flew near Russian territory this week, a government spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

The electronic attack happened on Wednesday evening as Grant Shapps flew back on an Royal Air Force jet from Poland where he had watched a North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercise, the Times newspaper reported.

A UK government spokesperson said the plane “temporarily experienced GPS (global positioning system) jamming when they flew close to Kaliningrad” on the Baltic Sea, some 1,200 kilometers west of Moscow.

“It didn’t threaten the safety of the aircraft and it is not unusual for aircraft to experience GPS jamming near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory,” the spokesperson added.

The Times, which had journalists on the plane, said the GPS signal was interfered with for about 30 minutes.

Mobile phones could no longer connect to the internet and the aircraft was forced to use alternative methods to determine its location, the daily added.