The recording of the German military has caused great concern in NATO

The German Ministry of Defense has admitted that the audio recording of high-ranking German officers discussing the prospects of supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles "Taurus" is authentic. In that recording, they also talk about the possibility of blowing up the Crimean bridge. German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz has promised to investigate the leak of such sensitive data "thoroughly, intensively and quickly". Russia demanded an explanation from Germany. Moscow insists that the content of the conversation between the Bundeswehr officers "completely refutes Chancellor Scholtz's statements that the Federal Republic of Germany is not substantially involved in the conflict."

The famous recording caused a political earthquake in Germany. The situation has reached such a level that the chancellor Olaf Scholtz also commented on the issue. He called the incident "a very serious problem". At the same time, Mr. Scholtz promised to investigate the matter "very carefully, very intensively and in a short time." German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke about the incident on Sunday evening. He called the incident "part of Putin's information war" and noted that the military "discussed various scenarios" and their words did not mean that the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine was given a green light.

Earlier, the German Ministry of Defense confirmed to journalists that the "conversation in the air force was intercepted" and that the audio recording posted online was authentic. The Federal Military Counter-Intelligence Department has started investigations into the incident. At the same time, according to the German press, the inspection will be conducted not only in the Air Force, but in the entire Ministry of Defense, as well as in other law enforcement agencies of the Federal Republic of Germany. German military counterintelligence warns that Russian intelligence services may also listen to the listed entities.

The Bundestag demands the creation of a special committee to investigate the incident. Deputies are concerned about two main issues. First, it worries both the politicians of the ruling coalition parties and the opposition: How could a conversation between high-ranking German military officials about extremely sensitive issues be hijacked by Russia, and what should be done to prevent this from happening again? "Is this an isolated incident or a structural security problem?" asked Konstantin von Notz, chairman of the Bundestag's intelligence oversight committee. He announced that he expects the problem to be clarified immediately. The head of the defense committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, stressed that Germany should urgently strengthen its security and counter-intelligence. The chancellor of the opposition called the Bundestag to give an explanation on this issue.

The parliamentary opposition also insists on a comprehensive investigation of the circumstances of the incident. Christian Democratic Union foreign policy spokesman Norbert Röttgen told the "Funke" media group that it is necessary to clarify as soon as possible what security measures were followed when the conversation was leaked. According to the German press, during the conversation, the officers of the German Air Force did not use closed communication, but the commercial platform for conference calls "Cisco WebEx". At the same time, one of the participants in the conversation joined the meeting from Singapore through a regular mobile phone.

"The Wall Street Journal" (WSJ) writes that the release of the audio recording may cause tension in the relations between Germany and NATO. It follows from the conversation that UK, French and US military personnel are in Ukraine and helping Kiev maintain modern Western equipment. However, the listed countries deny the presence of their army in Ukraine. According to the WSJ, this could complicate relations between Germany and NATO. The experts interviewed by the newspaper believe that the incident related to the spread of the conversation further reduced the probability of the Taurus missiles being delivered to Kiev. German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz previously explained the refusal to supply missiles to Ukraine by saying that German experts would be needed to program the missiles and target them. "Focus" writes that the recording shows that Ukraine can control the weapons on its own.

After the distribution of the audio recording, the West began to worry about the delivery of missiles to Ukraine. The British "Times" newspaper writes that Russian intelligence can monitor the sending of SCALP and "Storm Shadow" to Ukraine. The newspaper noted that Britain and other NATO members should be very concerned about the security breach that led to the disclosure of important information. The article warns that the information in the recordings of the German military will help Russian intelligence to track and locate them, potentially targeting such vehicles in Europe and Ukraine. According to the transcript of the audio recording, France is sending SCALP in Audi Q7 crossovers, while the British side is using Ridgeback armored vehicles to carry Storm Shadow missiles.

S. ELAY
XQ