Moscow presents audio recording
Pistorius threatens Taurus wiretapping scandal – Russia eavesdrops on Bundeswehr officers
March 1, 2024, 10:45 p.m
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Defense Minister Pistorius is confronted with an explosive wiretapping case involving the sensitive subject of Taurus. Russian media publish an audio recording in which senior air force officers are said to be discussing the use of these weapons in Crimea.
Following allegations from Moscow, the German Ministry of Defense is investigating whether communications within the Air Force were intercepted. “The Federal Office for the Military Counterintelligence Service (BAMAD) has initiated all necessary measures,” said a spokeswoman for the Social Democratic Defense Minister Boris Pistorius when asked. Russian media had previously reported on a possible wiretapped conversation. Bundeswehr officers can be heard discussing the theoretical possibilities of using German Taurus missiles.
The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded an explanation from the federal government after the allegedly intercepted conversation between senior Bundeswehr officers. “Attempts to avoid answers will be seen as an admission of guilt,” wrote Moscow Foreign Office spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel. At the same time, Margarita Simonyan, the head of the Russian state broadcaster RT, published an audio recording of the approximately 30-minute conversation. She did not say how Simonjan got the recordings.
The recording will, among other things, address the question of whether Taurus rockets would theoretically be technically capable of destroying the bridge built by Russia to the Crimean peninsula. Another point in the discussion is whether Ukraine could carry out the shelling without the participation of the Bundeswehr. However, it can also be heard in the recording that there is no green light for the operation at the political level.
Betrayal of secrets: Brits angry about Scholz
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out several times against the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. The SPD politician justified this with the danger that Germany could be drawn into the war of aggression started by Russia. According to information from the “Bild” newspaper, the four officers do not assume that German soldiers would necessarily have to be sent to Ukraine for this. But that’s exactly what Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeatedly cited as the reason for his “no” to a Taurus delivery. According to the report, the officers also suggest ways in which the Ukraine Taurus can be used by the Bundeswehr without specific target data transmission – Scholz had suggested that target control would make Germany a warring party.
Scholz’s justification for his no recently caused anger in Great Britain. “What the British and French are doing in terms of targeting and accompanying targeting cannot be done in Germany,” said the Chancellor. He left open what exactly he meant by that. However, the sentence was understood by some as an indication that the French and British would support the control of their Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which were delivered to Ukraine, with their own forces.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak immediately denied this: “Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadow long-range missile system and the target selection process are the responsibility of the Ukrainian armed forces.” Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, former head of the defense committee in the British Parliament, even spoke of a “blatant misuse of intelligence information deliberately aimed at distracting from Germany’s reluctance to equip Ukraine with its own long-range missile system,” he told the newspaper. Telegraph”.