Explainer-Why a leaked German military recording on Ukraine aid is causing an outcry

By Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) – Russian media published a 38-minute audio recording of an intercepted online call between senior German military officials about how to support Ukraine in its fight against the Kremlin’s invasion.

Germany’s government has confirmed the veracity of the call.

This is what the officials discussed and the reactions to the security breach:

WHAT WAS DISCUSSED DURING THE RECORDED CALL?

In the call, German Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz discusses with three high-ranking Luftwaffe officials the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz has publicly so far firmly rejected.

They also talk about the training of Ukrainian soldiers, and possible military targets for the missiles including the bridge linking the Russian mainland to Crimea and Russian ammunition depots.

The discussions included details of allies’ operations, such as the fact British personnel were deployed in Ukraine and how Britain’s Storm Shadow and France’s Scalp missiles were deployed in the country.

One official talks about the fact Britain is already handling for France the satellite data needed for Ukraine to program the missiles.

He suggests it could do the same for Germany – preventing the country from being in any way directly involved in their deployment, which is a political red line for Berlin.

HOW WAS THE CALL INTERCEPTED? 

One participant on the call mistakenly joined via a non-secure line from Singapore and Russia had likely intercepted the discussion by chance via widespread surveillance, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday, as he presented initial results of an investigation into the leak.

German communications systems have not been compromised, nor did a Russian spy dial into the call, he said.

WHY IS THIS A SCANDAL? 

Critics say the incident demonstrates a systematic underestimation in Germany of security threats.

Germany’s allies have not publicly criticized the leak. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters it was a matter for Germany to investigate and Britain would continue to work together with Germany to support Ukraine.

But former British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was quoted as saying by The Times that the incident demonstrated Germany was “neither secure nor reliable”.

The recording also underscores the extent to which the decision on deploying Taurus missiles is a political one – and Scholz is reticent about Germany getting too directly involved in the Ukraine war or prompting an escalation of hostilities.

The Taurus missiles can reach twice as far as the Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles, and would thus enable Ukraine to even reach as far as Moscow.

HOW DID GERMANY REACT? 

Germany has said the leak was a Russian “hybrid disinformation attack” that aimed to sow discord within the country and with allies.

It has also said it will continue to investigate whether it should take disciplinary measures against the officers on the call.

But asked on Tuesday if the leak could affect the position of Gerhartz, who was not the one to dial in from Singapore, Pistorius said if nothing further emerged in the probe, “then I am not going to sacrifice one of my best officers to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s games”.

MOSCOW’S TAKE

The Kremlin says the recording shows Germany’s armed forces were discussing plans to launch strikes on Russian territory, and questioned whether this was government policy or Chancellor Scholz lost control of the situation.

Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it demanded on Monday an explanation from the German ambassador to Moscow Alexander Graf Lambsdorff about the discussion which “clearly demonstrates the involvement of the ‘collective West’, including Berlin, in the conflict around Ukraine”.

Germany has called accusations of war preparations “absurd” propaganda. Analysts say Moscow is seeking to ensure Scholz does not send Ukraine the Taurus cruise missiles.

RUSSIAN SPYING IN GERMANY

Germany, one of the largest providers of military hardware to Ukraine, is a major target of Russian spying operations, which have grown in scale since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, authorities have warned.

The authorities arrested a German Foreign Intelligence Service (BND) employee they suspected of spying for Russia in late 2022.

Last year, authorities arrested an officer of the military procurement agency on suspicion of passing secret information to Russian intelligence.