Germany has accused Russia of spying on its army within an “information war” launched by Vladimir Putin, after the Russian state media RT broadcast the audio of a videoconference conversation between soldiers of the German Air Force in which they raised possible scenarios in the war in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius maintained on Sunday that the issue goes beyond espionage itself. “There is no doubt that it is part of an information war that Putin is waging; It is a hybrid disinformation attack. It is about division; “It is about undermining our determination and we must respond with special caution, but no less determination,” the minister said.
With the dissemination of the audio, Russia makes it clear to Western public opinion that it has the capacity to listen to allies’ conversations. The matter is embarrassing for the German army and government.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the conversation between four senior Luftwaffe (Air Force) officers did indeed take place. It has also opened an investigation into how this communications security breach could have occurred, and to determine whether the channel that the military used for their meeting – the WebEx videoconferencing platform – was appropriate, and why they did not use the internal high-speed network. Air Force security. According to the magazine Der Spiegel, one of the soldiers participated from his hotel room in Singapore, in which – the magazine suggests – there could well have been hidden microphones.
In the 38-minute audio, the military discusses the technical and political implications of a potential shipment of Taurus missiles to Ukraine – Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated several times that Germany will not supply Kyiv with such long-distance missiles – and makes conjectures about possible Russian targets that the Ukrainian army could attack with that weapon. At one point, Air Force Chief Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz and Brigadier General Frank Gräfe discuss whether missiles could hit “the bridge,” presumably referring to the Kerch Bridge, key infrastructure linking illegally annexed Crimea. for Russia ten years ago – with Russia.
The Kremlin assured this Monday that it had summoned the German ambassador in Moscow, Alexander Lambsdorff, who in fact went to the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the morning, surrounded by a swarm of journalists. He was there for an hour. Berlin denied that its ambassador had been summoned, and a spokesman for German diplomacy stated that the appointment “at the Russian Foreign Ministry had been planned for a long time.”
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov in his daily telephone press conference on Monday, the conversation between the German military “demonstrates the direct involvement of the countries of the so-called collective West in the conflict around Ukraine.” On Sunday, German Minister Pistorius had urged “not to fall into Moscow’s trap,” which seeks to build and reinforce the narrative that the West is at war with Russia, when in reality “the West is limited to supporting Ukraine in its legitimate self-defense war.”
Boris Pistorius also defended the content of the conversation. “The officers did what their job is; “They reflected on possible scenarios, without planning anything in any way,” said the minister. At the meeting, the senior officials mention that the Government has not given the green light to the deployment of Taurus missiles in Ukraine, and “they make it clear all the time that the line of participation in the war, which has different forms, should not be crossed.” Pistorius insisted.
