It was the day Alexei Navalny was buried when Margarita Simonyan wanted to draw attention to a completely different topic in the morning. She announced something “extremely interesting” that “comrades in uniform” had given her. The head of the Russian state broadcaster RT used her personal Telegram channel, which alone has almost half a million subscribers. She smugly promised “a fascinating read and audio file that I am very happy to publish.” Then she wrote that “senior Bundeswehr officers are discussing how to bomb the (attention!) Crimean Bridge.”
Of course, she did not say who gave her the explosive conversation recording of the German Air Force officers. In her post, Simonyan addresses, among others, directly to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and asks whether “it is not already time for Russia to actively remind Germany of how the blowing up of Russian bridges for Germany ended last time?”
The tone of the various posts makes it clear that Russia only wants to understand and present to the public the conversation that was presumably intercepted by one of the Russian secret services: as German bombing plans. So there it is, from the perspective of the Russian leadership and according to Russian military analysts: the alleged proof of how heavily Western NATO states are participating in the war in Ukraine.
Attack plans on the Crimean Bridge? Ideal for propaganda
The Crimean Bridge is a particularly sensitive point for Russia. It was opened personally by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula and was therefore a very symbolic building from the outset that connects Crimea with the Russian mainland. Strategically, supplies for the Russian invading army in Ukraine pass over the bridge. It has been seriously damaged by explosions twice since the start of the war. The fact that Moscow has now uncovered alleged German plans for destruction is helping it in its already intensified propaganda against the West, which supposedly wants to weaken Russia.
On Saturday evening, Simonjan’s broadcaster RT published an article on its website that begins with the AfD’s position. Party leader Tino Chrupalla is quoted as calling on Berlin not to give Ukraine cruise missiles Taurus to hand over. But Chancellor Scholz has already ruled that out, even after the Bundeswehr officers’ conversation was intercepted. RT is a Russian-controlled state broadcaster that was banned in Germany after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the Russian government it is very valuable as a propaganda tool.
Sergei Lavrov spoke of a “striking self-exposure”.
As soon as Simonyan reported on the German officers’ recorded phone call, the conversation was commented on by the Russian Foreign Ministry, even though the Federal Ministry of Defense had not yet confirmed its authenticity at the time. “The current federal government refers to the experience of the Third Reich,” wrote Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel on Friday afternoon. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted “how thoroughly they are preparing for an attack on the Crimean bridge and other objects.” He spoke of a “striking self-exposure.”
However, time is moving extremely fast right now. On Sunday, 38 drones were reportedly shot down by Russian defenses over Crimea. Most Russian newspapers reported this, but the wiretapping affair no longer played a particularly important role.