The recording of a conversation among senior officers of the German Air Force published in Russian media is authentic. The German news agency dpa learned this on Saturday. In that conversation, among other things, the supply of German Taurus missiles is said to have been discussed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz promises a “thorough and meticulous investigation”.
It was announced on Friday evening that the German Defense Ministry is investigating whether a conversation between senior air force officers about the theoretical possibilities of deploying Taurus missiles in Ukraine had been overheard. The ministry took action after Margarita Simonjan, the head of Russian state broadcaster RT, published the recording.
The officers are said to have discussed whether the Taurus missiles would be technically capable of destroying the Crimean Bridge. Another point in the conversation would be whether Ukraine is capable of targeting that bridge without the participation of the German army. It would also be said that there is no political permission for this.
What would make the publication of the recording even more painful for Berlin is that the participants in the conversation also discuss details about deliveries of Scalp long-range missiles by France and the United Kingdom.
“If this story is true, this would be a highly problematic incident,” Konstanin van Notz, chairman of the parliamentary committee that controls the secret services, responded to the newspapers of the RND group.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promises to provide clarification about the Russian publication soon. “This is a very serious matter and that is why it is now the subject of a very meticulous, thorough and rapid investigation,” Scholz said on Saturday after an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican.