Russian media published a recording of a Bundeswehr conversation about the Taurus. You shouldn't fall for their calculations now.
About to have an impact in Ukraine? Taurus cruise missile Photo: Ministry of Defense of South Korea/ap
Without a doubt, the Kremlin media Russia Today has made a splash by publishing a recording of a conversation between German Air Force officers. The most notable thing about wiretapping is not the process itself, but the demonstrative act of publishing it.
In any case, the timing should not be a coincidence. It is impressive how Vladimir Putin's propaganda company managed to quickly remove from the headlines the courage of the people who participated in Alexei Navalny's funeral or the espionage thriller about the former director of Wirecard, Jan Marsalek.
Despite all the fuss: in terms of content, the wiretapping case does not constitute a scandal. During their 38-minute consultation on how Defense Minister Boris Pistorius can be briefed on the Taurus cruise missiles in 30 minutes, the officials involved did not divulge anything that should not be known to everyone dealing with the matter.
And weighing possible scenarios and difficulties within the framework of the political demand that there be no direct involvement of the Bundeswehr in a possible deployment of the Taurus is simply their job. It is very bold that the politicians of the Union, the FDP and the Greens act as if they had been confirmed that the delivery of the Taurus would not be a problem.
However, it is truly absurd that the left-wing politician Dietmar Bartsch claims that some simulation games were “clearly punishable.” It is even more indescribable when it is stated from the ranks of the AfD or the new Wagenknecht party that the conversation was about “preparation for a war of aggression” by officers of the German Bundeswehr. This has nothing to do with reality, but only with Kremlin propaganda.
There are many indications that this was just a coincidence.
The fact that Russia is trying to spy on German authorities is nothing new. There are many indications that this particular case was just a coincidence. The secret services are not journalists; their genuine interest is in obtaining information, not publishing it. If the conversation had been collected as part of a systematic browsing, it would surely not have been published so as not to let the source become exhausted.
This does not change the fact that all this damages the image of the Bundeswehr. The question arises how carefully internal communication is protected from the desires of Russian espionage when military secrets are actually at stake.