German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised a thorough investigation after a purported recording of a secret military meeting about the Ukraine war went viral on Russian social media, causing a major embarrassment for Berlin. did.
A German Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the ministry believes conversations in the air force were “intercepted.” “We cannot say with certainty at this time whether any changes have been made to the recorded or transcribed versions circulating on social media,” they said.
Margarita Simonyan, a journalist for Russian state television and the head of Russia Today, posted an audio file on her Telegram channel calling for an attack on the Crimean Bridge, which connects Russia and the Russian-occupied peninsula of Ukraine. “We are discussing methods,” he claimed, revealing the state of the German officers. In 2014.
Participants in the conference call also appeared to discuss the possibility of deploying Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev, an idea that Scholz has steadfastly rejected in public. They also talk about the training of Ukrainian soldiers and possible military targets. Kiev has long asked Germany to provide it with Taurus missiles that can reach targets up to 500 kilometers (300 miles) away.
Reuters heard the 38-minute recording but could not independently verify its authenticity.
Scholz, who is on a visit to Rome, called the potential breach “very serious” and said it was “being unraveled very carefully, very intensively, and very quickly.”
The Russian embassy in Berlin did not respond to an emailed request for comment on the spying allegations on Saturday. “We ask Germany for an explanation,” a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on social media on Friday, without elaborating on Germany’s specific concerns.
Germany’s ARD broadcaster said the leak was a “catastrophe” for Germany’s secret services.
According to Der Spiegel, the video conference was held on the WebEx platform rather than on a secret military network.
“If this story is true, it would be a very problematic event,” Green Party politician Konstantin von Notz told broadcaster RND.
At a diplomatic forum in Turkey on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the recordings showed that Ukraine and its supporters “have no intention of changing course and want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.” It shows,” he said. ”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on Germany to “promptly” explain the discussions. “Any attempt to avoid answering questions will be considered an admission of guilt,” she said.
“Our long-time rival, the Germans, has once again become our sworn enemy,” Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council, said on Telegram.
Marie Agnes Struck Zimmermann, head of Germany’s parliament’s defense committee, said the Russian government’s intentions were “clear”. He said Scholz had been “warned” against supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
“We urgently need to strengthen our security and counterintelligence operations because we are clearly vulnerable in this area,” she told Funke Media Group.
Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of Germany’s conservative opposition party, warned that further recordings could be leaked and told the Handelsblatt newspaper that he believed the reports were genuine.
“Russia has shown how heavily it uses espionage and sabotage as part of its hybrid warfare,” he said. “We expect that much more was intercepted and leaked to influence decision-making, discredit and manipulate people.”
From Agence France-Presse and Reuters
