A leaked recording between senior military leaders reveals that the German Air Force discussed the possibility of conducting an operation to attack Russian infrastructure, in which the Crimean Bridge would be bombed.
Russian RT editor-in-chief Maragrita Simonyan published the leaked recording over the weekend, the authenticity of which has also been confirmed by German authorities. The conversation includes Air Force Commander General Ingo Gerhatz, Brigadier General Frank Graefe and two other senior military officers.
The German soldiers discuss the possibility of bombing the Crimean Bridge – the bridge connecting Crimea to Krasnodar in Russia, which has been the target of several attacks and attempted attacks during the war.
Among other things, the officers discussed how to carry out the German attack while allowing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to credibly deny involvement in the attack.
During the conversation, the soldiers also pointed out that the German military has kept some distance from the conflict in Ukraine, unlike the American and British militaries, which they said have been “directly involved for a long time”.
Agents with “American accent”
Earlier, former US Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Robert Gates also argued that the bridge should be blown up in order to damage the Russians “psychologically as well as militarily”.
The German military also discussed the delivery of Taurus long-range missiles, despite the fact that they have not been approved by the country’s parliament, and how Germany should act to support Ukraine militarily as much as possible while avoiding crossing the “red line” of direct military involvement.
The possibility of using “people [in Ukraine] in civilian clothes who speak with an American accent” to carry out attacks was also discussed, as was the possibility of providing Ukraine with missiles, training, and satellite targeting information.
In discussing the issue of blowing up the Crimean bridge and the Ukrainian military’s obsession with it, the Germans admitted that it would be very difficult to destroy it – even with 20 missiles – and that the 50 or so missiles that Berlin could supply to Kiev “won’t change the course of the war”.
“Once again our arch-enemies”
Following the release of the recordings, Russian authorities have demanded an immediate explanation from Germany.
– We demand an explanation from Germany. Official Berlin must provide it immediately. Attempts to dodge the question will be considered an admission of guilt, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
According to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Germany has “once again turned into our arch-enemies”.
“Just take a look at how thoroughly and in what detail the Krauts are discussing long-range missile strikes on Russia’s territory, and are picking out targets and the most workable ways to harm our Motherland and our people”, he continued, with several Russian officials calling for an immediate investigation.
German authorities have confirmed that top German military officials are indeed involved in the call, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the leak is a “very serious matter” that “will now be investigated very carefully, very intensively, and very quickly”.
– According to our assessment, a conversation in the air force sector has been intercepted. We are currently unable to say with certainty whether changes have been made to the recorded or written version circulating on social networks, a spokesperson for the German Ministry of Defense told CNN.
