A GERMAN air chief’s confidential phone call discussing British military secrets was allegedly intercepted by Russia in a major security breach.
Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz was recorded discussing how British troops are “on the ground” in Ukraine – a move Russia says shows Nato allies are “preparing for war”.
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The intercepted 38-minute call was then blasted across Russian state television, reports The Telegraph.
Gerhartz was caught chatting to Air Force officers and a general via WebEx – an off-the-shelf video chat platform.
It is feared a Russian agent simply joined the open chat and listened in.
The call appeared to suggest that France and Britain were delivering new powerful Storm Shadow rockets to Ukraine.
One conversation even detailed how the long-range weapons being sent could be used to destroy the Kerch Bridge that connects mainland Russia to the Crimean peninsula.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, labelled the leak “very serious” and has demanded a thorough investigation.
He said: “It is a very serious matter and that is why it is now being investigated very carefully, very intensively and very quickly.”
BRITISH SECRETS REVEALED
After listening to the recording, the Kremlin doubled down on its views that Nato allies are posing a serious threat of war against them.
Gerhartz claimed that British troops were “on the ground” and even mentioned Britain’s exact system currently in place to deliver weapons to the Ukrainian frontlines.
In the recording, he can be heard talking about his country delivering German Taurus missiles to the troops before appearing to spill British secrets.
He says: “If we’re asked about delivery methods. I know how the British do this.
“They always transport them in Ridgeback armoured vehicles. They have several people on the ground.”
Then the Lieutenant General spoke about how France also sent missiles east to Ukraine.
The French deliver their Storm Shadow-style missiles, better known as Scalp, in the back of flashy Audi Q7s.
The commercial SUVs cost a whopping £67,000.
It is a very serious matter and that is why it is now being investigated very carefully, very intensively and very quickly
Olaf Scholz
A second voice thought to be Brigadier General Frank Graefe can also be heard in the recording.
He discusses how Ukrainian soldiers are trained on German soil before somewhat controversially blurting out that once they’ve been trained in Germany the “right course of action” would be for Britain to “take over”.
He then adds: “Just imagine the uproar if the media were to find out.”
Lord Dannatt, former head of the British army told Times Radio that the air force officers who were talking on an open line should be “censured pretty heavily”.
He said: “We have provided a lot of equipment to them. We provided a lot of training. As far as I’m concerned.
“I think what they were talking about was whether they would or wouldn’t supply a German system akin to our Storm Shadow.
“I suspect that we do our training on Storm Shadow, either in this country or in Poland or elsewhere.
“It’s not for you or I to confirm or deny whether there are British military in Ukraine.”
Conservative MP Bob Seely scolded Germany for being “incredibly complacent” as former defence minister Alec Shelbrooke described the leak as an “amateur blunder”.
German opposition politician Roderich Kiesewetter says the leak was probably caused by a Russian intelligence agent who joined the call.
A spokesman told Bild an “insufficiently secure means of communication was used”.
The chat with multiple senior Luftwaffe officers was done over their mobile phones meaning it would have been simple to connect to it for an outside individual.
One participant on the chat can even be heard talking about taking the conversation over to WhatsApp.
This has caused even more fears over a potential further security breach.
The German defence ministry confirmed the call as an authentic recording.
It marks one of the most serious security breaches in Germany since the Cold War.
PREPARING FOR WAR
The conversation then moved on to Taurus cruise missiles and the potential devastation they could cause in Russia.
Officers debated whether the missiles could reach the Kerch bridge between Russia’s mainland and the battlefields in the Crimea peninsula.
Our age-old rivals – the Germans – have again turned into our sworn enemies
Dmitry Medvedev
Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev claimed this proved Germany was “preparing for war against Russia”.
The deputy head of Russia’s Security Council said on Telegram: “Our age-old rivals – the Germans – have again turned into our sworn enemies.”
“Look, with what thoroughness and in such detail the [Germans] discuss striking our territory with long-range missiles, choose targets to hit and discuss how to inflict the maximum harm to our motherland and our people.”
Boris Pistorius, the German defence minister, spoke out about the leaked recording saying Vladimir Putin was using the call to “destabilise” Germany.
Pistorius also detailed how the evil tyrant was attempting to cause rifts within the allies through an “information war”.
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