Leak part of ‘information war’ against the West
The German Government yesterday rejected allegations that Russia’s leak of a conversation by high-ranking German military officers was an indication Berlin was preparing for war against Russia.
At the same time, the Government sought to contain the domestic fallout from the leak and promised a quick investigation into how a conversation by top German military personnel could be intercepted and published.
“It is absolutely clear that such claims that this conversation would prove, that Germany is preparing a war against Russia, is absurdly infamous Russian propaganda,” a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
Government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said the leak was part of Russia’s “information war” against the West, and that the aim was to create discord within Germany.
The 38-minute recording features military officers discussing how Taurus long-range cruise missiles could be used by Kyiv against invading Russian forces. Taurus missiles have a range of up to 500km and could in theory be used against targets deep inside Russian territory.
While German authorities have not questioned the authenticity of the recording, Scholz said a week ago delivering the missiles to Ukraine was not an option — and he does not want Germany to be drawn into the war.
Russia’s foreign ministry, however, yesterday threatened Germany with “dire consequences” in connection with the leak. It did not elaborate.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago. Germany is the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the US, and it is stepping up its support this year. There has been a debate in Germany about whether to supply the missiles to Ukraine as Kyiv faces battlefield setbacks and military aid from the US faces resistance from Republican lawmakers.
The audio leak was posted by Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of Russian state-funded television channel RT, on social media on Saturday, the same day Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was laid to rest after his still-unexplained death two weeks ago in an Arctic penal colony. The recording also surfaced just weeks before Russia’s presidential election.
In the leaked audio, four officers, including the head of Germany’s Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, can be heard discussing deployment scenarios for Taurus missiles in Ukraine before a meeting with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The officers then state rapid deployment of Taurus missiles would only be possible with the participation of German soldiers.
The officers said training Ukrainian soldiers to deploy the Taurus on their own would be possible, but it would take months.
The recording also shows the German Government has not given its okay for the delivery of the cruise missiles sought by Ukraine, dpa reported.