The German army announced on Saturday March 2 that it was investigating suspicions of illegal wiretapping of exchanges between several of its officers, concerning arms deliveries to Ukraine, broadcast on social networks in Russia and with potentially very embarrassing content. for Berlin.
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“ We are examining whether air force-related communications were tapped, military counterespionage (BAMAD) has taken all necessary measures », indicated a spokesperson for the ministry German of the defense. She was reacting to a growing controversy that emerged after the broadcast on Friday in Russia on social media, of what appears to be a recording of a conversation between high-ranking German officers.
On Friday, the editor-in-chief of Russian state channel RT Margarita Simonyan published a file lasting more than half an hour. The recording purports to be an undated German Air Force video conference. The officers discuss different scenarios around the possible use by Ukraine of German-made Taurus missiles, in particular with a view to destroying the bridge linking Crimea to Russia and their possible impact. The Taurus are the long-range, German-made missiles that kyiv has been demanding from Berlin for months, and whichOlaf Scholz has so far refused to deliver to its ally for fear of seeing Germany drawn into the conflict.
A delicate matter for Berlin
If the exchanges were to prove authentic, they would be very embarrassing for Berlin. This espionage affair is doubly delicate for Berlin. It highlights the gaps in the technical means used for communication within the army. And it undermines the coalition divided on the Taurus for Ukraine, reports our correspondent in Berlin, Nathalie Versieux.
In the recording, participants also discuss details of deliveries of long-range Scalp missiles by France and Great Britain to Ukraine. “ If this story is true, it would be highly problematic » declared the chairman of the German parliamentary committee for monitoring the secret services, Konstantin von Notz, to the newspapers of the RND group.
In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova asked: quick explanations from Germany » on this matter. “ Any attempt to avoid answering questions will be considered an admission of guilt “, did she say. For his part, the number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitri Medvedev judged on his Telegram account that “ our long-time rivals, the Germans, have once again become our sworn enemies “. “ Look at how precisely in what detail the “Chleus” talk about hitting our territory with long-range missiles, choose targets to hit and how to inflict maximum damage on our homeland “, he said.
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Isolated listening?
German officials, for their part, fear that this alleged tapping is not isolated. “ The question arises whether this is an exceptional case or a structural security problem » within the German army, added Konstantin von Notz.
An expert on defense issues from the main opposition party CDU (conservatives), Roderich Kiesewetter, estimated that “ the conversion was purposely publicized by Russia at this precise moment with a very specific objective », that of nipping in the bud the debate in Germany around the delivery of Taurus missiles to kyiv. “ Other conversations were certainly listened to and will be broadcast later to serve Russia’s interests “, he told the ZDF channel.
According to Spiegelthe discussion between German officers emanates from a video conference on the public platform WebEx and not from a secret internal army network, which raises questions about internal security standards in the Bundeswehr.
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