Berlin and Moscow clash over leaked audio of German officials
The Russian Foreign Ministry today summoned the German ambassador to Russia, Aleksandr Lambsdorff, to ask him for an explanation about the conversation leaked by Moscow of German army officers about sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine and of its possible use against the Crimean bridge, which connects the peninsula annexed by Russia with Russian territory.
The audio of the conversation, broadcast last Friday by the Russian medium RT, corresponds, according to Berlin, to a real conversation between four officers, among them the head of the German air force, according to Efe.
The Kremlin accuses the German army of preparing attacks against Russia
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation captured in the German army “proves the direct participation of the countries of the so-called collective West in the conflict around Ukraine.” According to Peskov, “concrete plans to launch attacks against the territory of Russia are being discussed within the German army.” “We need to see if the German army is acting on its own initiative or if this is part of the country’s state policy,” he added.
The German Defense Minister denounces a “hybrid attack” by Putin
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius yesterday described as a “hybrid attack” the publication by Russian media of the conversation between his army officers about sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, which Scholz again rejected last week, and promised “consequences” once the investigation into the incident is complete. The leak, Pistorius said, “is part of Putin’s information war, no doubt about it. It’s a disinformation attack to create division, to undermine our unity.”
In the audio, German officials are also heard speculating about the Russian objectives that Kyiv could achieve with the Taurus.