Large wildfires broke out this week near the Ida-Viru County villages of Vaivina and Konju, located a little over 30 kilometers from the border with Russia.

Drone operators working for the Rescue Board (Päästeamet) in combatting the blazes have been struggling with GPS jamming interference, which has prevented the aircraft from reaching the required altitude.

In some cases, drones could only fly and still be controlled up to an altitude of about 35 meters, though the situation has improved, Rescue Board field commander Pavel Leontjev told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

"The previous crews just said that during the first two days they managed to send the drones to a height of about 30 to 35 meters and no higher. This morning we tried, and we succeeded in getting the drone up to 60 meters and 200 meters away. In that sense, we've been a bit luckier today," Leontjev said.

GPS signal disruptions significantly started to affect northeastern Estonia nearly three years ago. The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) says it has observed drone interference in the region on a daily basis since then.

Professional drone operator Dmitri Šutov said the main issues affect the simpler quadcopter-type drones in particular, including those used by hobbyists. He advised drone users to react immediately to any issues, and to bring the drone down, or not launch it in the first place.

"So-called consumer drones are especially sensitive to losing GPS signals. If you see the GPS signals drop to zero, avoid flying — that's the main point," Šutov said.

PPA spokesperson Janek Talistu said at one point amateur drone user numbers seemed to be on the decline, they have since started rising; in cases of interference, the user should call the emergency number, 112.

"People are still flying. If someone realizes they have completely lost control of the drone and there is no longer any connection, they should immediately notify 112 so that we can respond," Talistu said.

The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority's (TTJA) frequency management department meanwhile confirmed problems with GPS signal interference are at their most severe in northeastern Estonia, due to its proximity to the border with the Russian Federation. To a lesser extent, similar issues have also been observed in southeastern Estonia, which also has a land border with Russia, albeit in a more sparsely populated region.

Disruptions also tend to spike at nighttime, and during warmer weather, the TTJA noted.

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