Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Saturday that Germany is fully investigating the leak of tapes of military officials discussing classified information related to the war in Ukraine.
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An investigation is underway in the German military. On Saturday March 2, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany was fully investigating the leak of military officers discussing classified information related to the war in Ukraine.
“This is a very serious matter, which is why it is now subject to a very careful, very thorough and very quick investigation,” Olaf Scholes said during a visit to Rome.
On Friday, Margarita Simonyan, director of Russia's state-backed RT channel, released online a 38-minute audio recording in which she said German military officials discussed the February 19 attack on Crimea.
Discussions about the possible use of German missiles
In the recording, discussions can be heard about the potential use of German-made Taurus missiles by Ukrainian forces and their potential impact.
Targets include targets such as a large bridge across the Kerch Strait, which connects mainland Russia with Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
There are also discussions about the use of missiles supplied to Kiev by France and the United Kingdom.
Experts consulted by German magazine Der Spiegel said they believe the recording is genuine.
A spokesman for the German defense ministry told AFP that an investigation was underway to “determine whether there was a breakdown of communications in the air force sector”.
Kyiv has long demanded that Germany supply it with Taurus missiles capable of hitting targets up to 500 km away.
Olaf Scholz has so far refused to deploy these missiles, fearing it could lead to an escalation of the conflict.
“If this story turns out to be true, it will be a very complicated event,” Green Party member Constantin van Notes told broadcaster RND. “The question arises whether this is an isolated incident or a structural safety problem,” he added.
Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Turkey on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the record indicated that Ukraine and its supporters “do not want to completely change course and inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.”
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova demanded “quick clarifications from Germany” on the matter. “Any attempt to avoid answering questions will be treated as an admission of guilt,” he said.
With AFP
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