OREANDA-NEWS  The failure of GPS satellite navigation systems in NATO exercises was due to lack of training, said Russian Senator Franz Klintsevich.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defence of Norway said that the cause of failures in the satellite navigation systems GPS, which occurred during the NATO exercise Trident Juncture, were the actions of the Russian military.

"Such large-scale exercises in a relatively limited space are almost always fraught with serious inconsistencies. I do not claim that all this was done intentionally, then to accuse the Russian side of the problems. Just certain structures in NATO exercises were clearly unprepared for the extreme situation. Elementary incompetence," wrote Klintsevich in Facebook.

"Well, then the stereotype worked: the Russians are to blame, of course," he added. According to the Senator, it was a political decision, in which there is no military component.

According to the Norwegian Ministry of defense, GPS malfunctions were recorded from October 16 to November 7, allegedly due to the actions of the Russian military in the polar region of the Kola Peninsula. It is noted that they did not lead to accidents.

Earlier, the Prime Minister of Finland Juha Sipila said that Russia may be related to the disruption of the GPS system during NATO exercises. According to him, such actions could be "a message to all parties involved in military exercises."

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the accusations, said that the Kremlin knows nothing about Moscow's connection with the failures of the GPS system during NATO exercises, and recalled that Russia is often unreasonably accused "of all mortal sins."

Trident Juncture —large-scale military exercises of NATO countries, held in Norway from 25 October to 7 November 2018, the scenario which involves a joint reflection of the allies on the block of external military aggression under article 5 of the NATO Charter on collective defense. The exercise was the largest since the end of the cold war. The maneuvers involved 65 ships, 250 aircraft, 10 thousand units of equipment and about 50 thousand soldiers from 31 countries. The exercises were conducted mainly in Central and Eastern Norway, as well as in the sea and airspace of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The stated purpose TRJE18 was to develop rapid reaction Forces of NATO and the audit of the defense capability of the Alliance.