Reports have caused a stir according to which the Russia intercepted conversations of senior officers of its armed forces Germany associated with Taurus long-range missiles.
Speaking on the sidelines of his visit to the Vatican, the chancellor Olaf Solz he spoke of a “very serious issue”. The conversation between the German defense officials was made public yesterday, Friday, by the head of the Russian state television network RT Margarita Simonyan.
In it, high-ranking Air Force officers discuss the theoretical possibilities of possibly deploying German Taurus cruise missiles in Ukraine.
Scholz has repeatedly ruled out giving Taurus missiles to Ukraine, despite repeated requests from Kiev, expressing fears that Germany could be dragged deeper into the war launched in February 2022 by the Kremlin.
The German defense ministry said later today that it believed an internal conversation between high-ranking air force officers had been intercepted.
The conversation heard in the recording concerns an Taurus cruise missiles would theoretically be capable of destroying the bridge built between Russia and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in violation of international law. The conversation also concerns whether Ukraine could carry out the strike without the involvement of the German armed forces. The recording makes it clear that German MPs do not want to give Kiev cruise missiles.
Sources told the German news agency earlier today that the recording is authentic and that the conversation took place on Webex, an American-made online conferencing platform.
The German Defense Ministry is investigating whether the conversation was intercepted. “The Federal Office of the Military Counterintelligence Service has taken all the necessary measures,” a military spokesman said yesterday, Friday evening.
German MPs responded with calls for improvements. “We urgently need to increase our security and counter-espionage because we are obviously vulnerable in this areaMarie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, chairwoman of the Bundestag Defense Committee, told the German news agency RND.
“The question is whether this is an isolated episode or whether there is a structural security problem,” said Constantin von Notch, chairman of the Parliamentary Audit Committee.
The release of the case prompted speculation about its timing, with Strack-Zimmerman speculating that Russia aimed to prevent Solz from giving Kiev Taurus missiles. She told RND that spying “is part of Russia's hybrid warfare toolbox” and added that it was not surprising that conversations were intercepted. “It was only a matter of time before it became public knowledge,” he said.
Others have speculated that the leak may be an attempt by Russia to divert public discussion from recent revelations or the funeral of dissident Alexei Navalny.
THE Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said on Telegram: “Our eternal rivals – the Germans – have again turned into our sworn enemies».
“Look, with how meticulously and in such detail they (the Germans) talk about hitting our soil with long-range missiles, they select targets to hit and discuss how to inflict maximum damage on our homeland and our people,” he said.
The Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov he also stated that the debate betrays the “evil designs” of the German armed forces, which he said committed “a flagrant self-exposure».
Source: News Beast
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