Russian media on Friday broadcast a recording of senior German officers discussing an arms delivery to kyiv for strikes on Crimea. France is also mentioned.
“What can Taurus do ? And how is it used ?”asks one of the interlocutors. “If we ever decide politically to support Ukraine in this area”he specifies, looking serious. Ultra-sensitive comments that should never have leaked. However, a confidential discussion between several high-ranking German officers was found on social networks and in the Russian media on Friday March 1.
It discusses the hypothesis of the delivery to kyiv of long-range missiles and potential targets to target. Very embarrassed, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, mentions “a very serious matter” Who “is now the subject of a very careful, very thorough and very rapid investigation”. Here is what we know about this scandal which broke out across the Rhine.
An audio document lasting more than thirty minutes
An audio file lasting more than half an hour was made public on Russian social networks on Friday. The first to publish it was none other than Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian state channel RT, who dates this exchange tou February 19.
In this conversation, to which AFP and franceinfo had access, several High-ranking German officers exchange. Among them, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, General Ingo Gerhartz. The interlocutors discuss in particular the hypothesis of the delivery to Kiev of German-made Taurus long-range missiles, what would be necessary to allow Ukrainian forces to use them and their possible impact.
The officers mentioned in particular the option of strikes targeting the strategic Crimean bridge linking the Kerch peninsula and Russian territory, with one of them emphasizing that it would take between ten and twenty missiles to overcome it. The Crimean peninsula was annexed in 2014 by Moscow.
Russia suspected of being behind the leak
According to the website of Spiegel, the videoconference took place via the public platform WebEx, and not an ultra-secure internal network of the Luftwaffe, the German air force. Interviewed by public television ARD, Roderich Kiesewetter, MP from the main opposition party, the CDU, argues that a Russian participant probably connected to the online meeting, without anyone noticing. This former colonel, expert in defense issues, hypothesizes that Moscow obtained access data to the meeting. It remains to be seen how.
Did Russia spy on the German army? Is there a mole in the Bundeswehr? For the moment, no response. Still according to Roderich Kiesewetter, “the conversation was deliberately leaked by Russia at this precise moment, with a very specific objective”, that of nipping in the bud the debate in Germany around the delivery of Taurus missiles to kyiv. “Other conversations were certainly listened to and will be broadcast later to serve Russia’s interests”predicted the elected official on the ZDF television channel.
For Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the expert on defense issues for the liberal FDP party, Moscow’s intention “is obvious”. This is’“intimidate” Olaf Scholz so that he does not reconsider his refusal to deliver the Taurus, she explains to the German press group Funke.
An embarrassing leak for Ukraine’s allies
These exchanges, apparently preparatory to a briefing for the German government, place Berlin in an uncomfortable situation. On the one hand, Germany has so far officially refused any delivery of its long-range missiles, despite them being loudly demanded by kyiv, for fear of an escalation in the conflict. These devices have a range of more than 500 km and could reach Moscow.
Furthermore, in the recording, the participants also discuss the deliveries and use of long-range Scalp missiles, supplied since last year by France and Great Britain to Ukraine. This part of the eavesdropping is one of the most embarrassing for Berlin, because it reveals confidential information from allied countries.
An investigation opened by Germany
The affair is embarrassing at the highest level of the German state. Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks of a “very serious matter”, which now makes “the subject of a very careful, very thorough and very rapid investigation”. For its part, the Ministry of Defense confirms that a secret army exchange was indeed the subject of illegal wiretapping. “According to our assessment, a conversation within the Air Force division was intercepted”, admitted a spokesperson to AFP. Nevertheless, “we are unable to say with certainty whether any changes have been made to the recorded or transcribed version circulating on social media”.
German officials, for their part, fear that this alleged tapping is not isolated. “The question arises as to whether this is an exceptional case or a structural security problem” within the German army, declared the environmentalist president of the German parliamentary committee for control of the secret services, Konstantin von Notz, to the newspapers of the RND group.
For her part, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the Bundestag, Eva Högl, calls on the RND to draw consequences. “First, all leaders at all levels of the Bundeswehr must immediately be thoroughly trained in secure communicationwishes the SPD MP. It must then be ensured that secure and secret information and communications are possible in a stable manner.”
Paris has not yet reacted, Moscow is outraged
Public broadcaster ARD talks about “disaster” for the German secret services, accused of carelessness in their security measures. For several days, Olaf Scholz wipe “unusually violent criticism” UK, also observes the daily Handelsblatt. France, although cited in this exchange between German officers, has not yet made a comment.
On the other hand, this leak did not fail to provoke a reaction in Russia. The head of diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, wants to see in this affair the illustration “that the war camp in Europe is still very, very strong.” “Our long-time rivals, the Germans, have once again become our sworn enemies,” writes for his part Dmitri Medvedev on his Telegram account. So much so that they are preparing missile launches to strike “the homeland” Russian, believes the number 2 of the Russian Security Council.
On Monday, it was the Kremlin spokesperson who reacted in turn. Dmitri Peskov denounced “direct involvement” of the West in Ukraine. “The recording itself testifies that within the Bundeswehr plans to carry out strikes against Russian territory are discussed in detail and concretely“, he lamented.