GPS glitches in downtown Moscow are teleporting people to the Gulf of Guinea

A glitch in GPS service is causing problems in downtown Moscow, magically teleporting drivers and pedestrians to the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. The website VC.ru reported the first malfunctions on January 6, which have apparently confused some rideshare services and resulted in fares in the hundreds of thousands of rubles.

Yandex.Taxi confirmed that the glitch has caused some isolated problems with fares, and the company says it’s dealing with these cases directly. The car-sharing service BelkaCar has also warned clients that downtown Moscow’s malfunctioning GPS service could affect rates, and the company is advising people to contact customer support if they encounter problems.

Muscovites have reported GPS anomalies in the downtown area (especially near the Kremlin) since 2016. In the past, global-positioning devices have been spoofed to think they’re suddenly located at one of Moscow’s airports. Bloggers have suggested that the Federal Protective Service is operating special equipment to confuse GPS service around the Kremlin.