Hundreds of Porsche owners in Russia suddenly found their vehicles bricked last week, and they had no idea why. Speculation is that it could have been intentional.

Every Porsche model that was equipped with the factory-installed Vehicle Tracking System since 2013 was affected. The satellite-based security system is intended to reduce the risk of vehicle theft. Instead, it caused the cars and SUVs to experience sudden engine shutdowns and fuel cut-offs, leaving them immobile.

Rolf, the largest new car dealership group in Russia, told RBC News, “It’s possible this was done deliberately.” No evidence has yet been put forth to support such a claim, however. CarBuzz reports it has been speculated that it could have something to do with GPS satellite and communications jamming related to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.

“Preliminary assessment indicates that the issue is not related to the design of the vehicles,” said Porsche’s official representative in Russia, Porsche Rusland LLC, according to Russian motor publication Auto Rambler.

“It is not known whether the problem lies in the impact of electronic warfare (EW) measures or a signal from the manufacturer,” the media outlet added.

Porsche suspended its deliveries, commercial operations, and customer support in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Porsche AG still owns three Russian subsidiaries (Porsche Russia, Porsche Center Moscow, PFS Russia) despite efforts to sell them.

Stranded Porsche owners in Russia are searching for a workaround

TVP World reports that some Porsche owners have resorted to workarounds, including yanking out GPS antennas or permanently disabling the tracking unit. Rebooting the VTS module has also been reported to remedy the problem. Others have noted that disconnecting their car batteries for up to 10 hours fixed the issue.

“Communication at the moment is not available for all models and types of internal combustion engines. Any car can be blocked. You can bypass the lock to date by rebooting the standard alarm unit with its analysis. We continue to study the problem and options for mechanics to unlock cars,” Yulia Trushkova, director of Rolf’s service, told RBC News.

Some owners of Mercedes-Benz cars in Russia have also reportedly suffered similar issues. They have reportedly been occurring less frequently, and “the machines do not turn into a ‘kirpic’ (brick).”