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by Mick the Ram
A serious breakdown in security by Germany led to discussions between officials detailing alleged British operations on the ground in Ukraine, being intercepted by Russian sources.
In the leaked recording, four senior German military officers are also seemingly heard discussing the prospect of Ukraine using cruise missiles made in Germany, to strike at the Kerch Bridge that links Russia with the Crimean peninsula.
The call was made from an insecure line which prompted a furious response from the former defence secretary Ben Wallace, and other leading figures in the UK Security establishment, who slammed Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
However, rather than offer up a concession, the German ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, said there was: “No need to apologise” and even remarked that the verbal attack on the Chancellor was “extremely unhelpful”.
The envoy insisted that it was actually a good lesson to learn from and was adamant that they were more concerned with making sure that whatever they did, there was no escalation which could lead to consequences that “we all don’t want to see.”
Ambassador points to individual mistake
The Ambassador justified his reaction by saying that calls from the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, to his counterparts had explained what was being done, and that an investigation was ongoing regarding military intelligence.
He shared that preliminary results were already out which showed that it was an individual mistake by one of the officers, who made a call over a secure system, but it had involved the dialling into the call over an insecure hotel internet link in Singapore.
“I think that’s a good lesson for everybody; never use hotel internet if you want to do a secure call,” was Ambassador Berger’s thoughts on the matter. He went on to comment: “I think what is really important is to underline that this leak is a Russian hybrid attack again and it’s clearly the intention to destabilise the West.”
He described Taurus as the “Mercedes-Benz” of long-distance systems and that the missiles were capable of reaching Moscow from Ukraine. Continuing, Mr Berger said that he believed the right thing to do was to be very careful about how support for Ukraine was increased, adding: “Currently, the big focus should be on ammunition and air defence, that is what Ukraine really needs.”
Pressure from the allies
Chancellor Scholz has repeatedly ruled out sending Taurus missiles – which have a range of around 500km (300 miles) – to Ukraine, despite pressure mounting from other allies. Britain and France are supplying Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles to Kyiv, respectively.
Amongst those involved in the conversation were Luftwaffe chief Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz and Brig General Frank Gräfe, who discussed the logistical problems of hitting the Kerch Bridge and can be heard saying that the Ukrainians would need assistance with mission planning. In addition they agreed that Germany would probably send no more than 100 missiles in total.
Anger of the Brits
What infuriated the British was when the conversation indicated that both they and French had pretty much run out of Storm Shadows and Scalp missiles, before speaking in detail seemingly implying that the Brits were carrying out operations on the ground within Ukraine.
Mr Wallace said Germany was “pretty penetrated by Russian intelligence” and “neither secure nor reliable”.
Sworn enemies
The 38-minute audio was posted to social media by the head of Russia’s state-run RT channel. Russian politicians said the audio proved that its “sworn enemy” was planning attacks.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova demanded that Germany “promptly provide explanations” and added that “any attempts to avoid answering the questions will be regarded as an admission of guilt,” whilst Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said on Telegram: “Our age-old rivals – the Germans – have again turned into our sworn enemies.”
It does feel that this conflict is on the verge of taking a dramatic turn and the escalation that Ambassador Berger spoke of wanting to avoid, seems almost inevitable.
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