As of: March 7, 2024, 4:30 p.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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Russia claims to have intercepted a confidential conversation - now the State Duma is reacting.
The accusation from Moscow: Olaf Scholz is concealing Germany's intentions.
Moscow - Despite the unequivocal position of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Taurus debate, the alleged revelations of the latest Bundeswehr wiretapping incident continue to cause a stir: a discussion has broken out in Germany about the Bundeswehr's communication channels.
Meanwhile, Russia is exploiting the publication of the apparently internal conversation between German Bundeswehr officers by the Russian platform
RT
.
The State Duma will now probably accuse the Federal Republic of concealing its true intentions in the Ukraine war.
Russia's parliament therefore probably wants to address this directly in the Bundestag.
Is Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) hiding his true intentions in the Ukraine war?
© IMAGO/Björn Trotsky
According to the head of the Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, the “Draft appeal to the Bundestag in connection with the leaked conversation of German officers” was submitted to the State Duma on Thursday (March 7).
This is reported by the Russian state news agency
Tass.
According to the agency, this is about “Germany’s involvement in the Kiev regime’s crimes against the civilian population and the damage to the civilian infrastructure on the territory of the Russian Federation” – i.e. its involvement in the Ukraine war.
“The true goals of German policy towards Ukraine” – Is Scholz concealing his intentions?
Ukraine has been “turned into a bloody testing ground by the efforts of Western politicians.”
“The armies of the NATO countries and Western companies of the military-industrial complex are now testing various weapons and military equipment on this site”.
The country is suffering “most today from the desire of the NATO patrons in Kiev” to “wage a war with Russia down to the last Ukrainian”.
“Chancellor O. Scholz’s claims about the inexpediency of supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine” therefore gave rise to “legitimate doubts”.
Its purpose is to “conceal the true goals of German policy towards Ukraine.”
According to
Tass
, the document explains that there is “every reason” to assume that the plans hatched by the Bundeswehr leadership are “credible and extremely dangerous.”
After all, “numerous facts” would prove both the use of “Western weapons and ammunition by Ukraine” as well as the participation of soldiers from NATO countries “including Germany” as trainers and in the maintenance of military equipment.
The paper therefore calls on the German Bundestag to take action.
This should now carry out “an objective investigation into the participation of Bundeswehr soldiers in combat operations in Ukraine”.
Known facts about the Ukraine war: Many of Russia's allegations have long been known
Some of the claims on the paper are true - but at the same time they are no secret.
Not only do “numerous facts” prove the use of Western weapons and ammunition in Ukraine, it is virtually impossible to escape the public debate about them.
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It has also been known for a long time that the Ukrainian emergency forces are trained by the country's Western allies.
A total of 24 nations are taking part in the EU training mission to support Ukraine - including Germany.
“The Bundeswehr makes a significant contribution to the operational training of the Ukrainian armed forces,” says the Bundeswehr website.
What was discussed during the supposedly wiretapped conversation?
The approximately 40-minute recording allegedly provides insight into a conversation between high-ranking Bundeswehr officers who are discussing how they should inform Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) about the conditions for a possible deployment of the German Taurus in Ukraine.
According to the recordings, Air Force Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz discussed this with three officers, all experts in the cruise missile in question.
The focus of the conversation is on the question of how to provide Taurus with the data necessary for target programming and trajectory determination.
The officers are drawing up various scenarios, including transmitting the data directly via lines from Büchel air base, but this is seen as a potential red line for politicians.
Alternatives such as delivery via the manufacturer or personal delivery by car to Ukraine are also discussed, but ultimately rejected.
The conversation shows that the Bundeswehr officers are simply collecting background information and presenting options without making any specific recommendations.
The final decision is up to politicians.
The most sensitive point of the conversation concerns the discussion about the possible uses of the weapon.
Due to their enormous range, Taurus could probably also hit the Kerch Bridge, through which the Russian occupying troops in Crimea are supplied.
Russian propaganda presented the German military's exchange of this possibility as concrete attack planning.
During the conversation, however, it is not apparent that the officers recommend an attack on the bridge or consider it sensible.
It is repeatedly emphasized that their task is to show politicians alternative decisions.
It is less clear which NATO countries have soldiers on Ukrainian soil.
French President Emmanuel Macron's considerations about sending ground troops to the Ukraine war still require discussion among NATO states.
However, everyone else – with the exception of the Czech Republic – has spoken out against such an approach.
“What was agreed from the beginning also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil that will be sent there by European states or NATO states,” Scholz made clear last week.
A “small number” of British soldiers – Apparently all NATO countries have personnel in Ukraine
Nevertheless, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the claim from the allegedly recorded conversation that British troops were deployed in Ukraine to help deploy the Storm Shadow cruise missiles that had been delivered.
However, this “small number” of British army personnel does not mean that there are “plans for a large-scale deployment,” said Sunak.
In Great Britain, Scholz's statements about British soldiers caused anger.
Soldiers from France are also suspected to be on Ukrainian soil.
The newspaper
Le Monde
interpreted Macron's statement that his proposal for the deployment of NATO troops was in an "official, deliberate and approved manner" as an admission of the presence of Western collaborators on Ukrainian soil.
An anonymous Ukrainian source told the newspaper that “all allied states” were present in Ukraine.
This is not about combat units, but “for example, representatives of every secret service” as well as “experts” who monitored the use of delivered weapons and new equipment.
“If there are arms deliveries, there must also be people on the ground providing information about the use of the equipment,” the source continued.
The presence of German technicians would therefore not be unlikely, given the German-made Leopard 2 tanks delivered.
Olaf Scholz emphasizes clear Taurus line – What does Russia aim at with the publication?
But there is a difference when it comes to the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles.
As long as you want to have control, Scholz emphasized on Monday (March 4th), that will only be possible “if German soldiers are involved” - which could result in Germany becoming more involved in the war.
Therefore, the following still applies: “That is out of the question for me”.
At least on Scholz's part, there is no evidence of a concealment of the "true goals of German policy towards Ukraine" - even if some members of the Bundestag would probably welcome a hidden agenda.
What remains unclear, however, is what Russia intends to do with the publication and its propaganda use.
It's about shaking trust in the institutions, the
Spiegel
judged .
At least the Union fell for the tactic a bit with its harsh criticism of the Chancellor, says the news magazine.
(tpn)