Russia ‘Delivers Blow to NATO Ranks’ With Leaked German War Talks on Ukraine

Moscow published a transcript of a conversation involving four German senior military officers on Friday. The leaked audio contained operational and targeting details of Taurus cruise missiles that Germany has held off on sending to Ukraine, with four officers discussing hitting the Crimean Bridge with the weapons.

By publishing Bundeswehr officials' intercepted alleged attack-plotting, Moscow did more than “shed light on the hybrid war waged by a united Western front against Russia for years,” Iranian political scientist Ruhollah Modabber told Sputnik.

Russia also “blew a hole in NATO ranks,” while demonstrating “the strength and capabilities” of its own forces, the expert stated.

“The publication of this audio file transcript is significant on several levels. Firstly, it testifies to Germany's extremely hostile position towards Russia. Among some German military personnel, fascist sentiments are still strong. They are haunted by the defeat delivered by the Soviet Army [in World War II], and they use Ukraine as a proxy tool in this conflict to get revenge for the defeat of Nazi Germany. It is they who fuel the neo-fascism and neo-Nazism that is now opposing Russia in Ukraine,” Modabber said.

The Iranian expert weighed in on the "hybrid war waged by the West against Russia for many years," saying:

“This war has targeted Russian values, Russian language and culture, and even Russian monuments, especially in Eastern Europe; anti-Russian sentiment has reached its climax in Lithuania, Latvia, and Ukraine, and [Russia’s President Vladimir] Putin has frequently mentioned this. This war is being waged through the media, which publishes fake news about Russia, and is also the result of the work of think tanks of intelligence agencies such as MI6 and the CIA, which have failed in achieving their goals.”

On Friday, RT and Rossiya Segodnya media group (Sputnik's parent company) Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan published a transcript of an intercepted conversation involving four senior German military officers discussing an attack on the Crimean Bridge with Taurus missiles and other issues.

The videoconference was held on the WebEx platform on February 19, 2024. It involved Brigadier General Frank Graefe (department head for operations and exercises at the Air Force Forces Command of the Bundeswehr), General Ingo Gerhartz (Bundeswehr Air Force inspector), and two employees of the Air Operations Command within the Space Operations Center of the Bundeswehr. German news agency DPA reported that the leaked conversation was authentic. The broadcaster ARD slammed the leak as a "catastrophe" for Germany's secret services.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has demanded an "immediate explanation" from Berlin pertaining to the audio recording. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed in a statement that attempts by the German authorities "to dodge the question will be considered an admission of guilt."

German military likely preparing for Berlin to send Taurus missiles to Kiev

Military officers who were discussing the possible shipments of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine and the use of these weapons against targets in Russia, such as the Crimean Bridge, were likely not… pic.twitter.com/u9HbL7LaTD

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) March 2, 2024

The desire of the German Army to strike Russian territory indicates the “military bankruptcy of Berlin,” underscored Nabil Surur, Lebanese expert on Russian affairs.

He pointed out that the West is “now in a critical state, having exhausted its forces by providing weapons, equipment, artillery and aviation to the failing Kiev regime.” Meanwhile, "Russia is a tough nut to crack in every way, and the Russians will go after anyone who threatens their national security... This is proven by the victories and achievements of the Russian Army in Ukraine, which indicate the correctness of the strategic decisions made by the military leadership of the Russian Federation," the pundit emphasized.

Ahmed Al-Haj Ali, Lebanese international and regional relations expert, said that Moscow has enough similar files “that could affect the reputation of major Western countries," adding:

“Now the [NATO] alliance will have to admit its defeat, signs of which have become clearly visible in the fighting in Ukraine, and American help and an ‘umbrella’ this time will not protect it from collapse.”

German involvement in plot to attack Crimean Bridge would be act of war

If implemented, the Bundeswehr representatives' plot to attack Russia's Crimean Bridge with Taurus missiles would be nothing short of an act of war, retired Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik,… pic.twitter.com/hfzpilV2ic

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) March 1, 2024

Germany's denial of leaks of military conversations “will not protect Berlin, and will not change the fact that the West is involved in supporting Ukraine in many attacks that threaten Russia’s national security,” Ali Hamud, another Lebanese expert, warned.

“NATO policy since the bloc’s creation has been aimed at defeating Moscow and controlling Russia in all aspects, but pumping the Kiev regime with weapons and money has not, and will not, cause serious harm to it,” Hamud said.

According to Ali Hamud, the United States has been "using Europe as a tool to contain Russia and reduce the importance of Moscow. However, the Russians were able to achieve economic successes and resist everything that could threaten them from the point of view of European-American weapons," the analyst added.