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German army officials discussed delivering powerful Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, according to a leaked recording published by Russian state-controlled media Russia Today on Friday.
Berlin has so far been reluctant to supply Kyiv with the powerful bridge-buster missiles, an issue that is splintering the country’s government coalition.
In the controversial audio recording, published by Russia Today editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, officials from Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, discuss how the air force could provide technical support for the delivery of Taurus missiles following a hypothetical political decision by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
POLITICO could not independently verify the content or authenticity of the recording.
German media Der Spiegel quoted a spokesperson for German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as saying the the Military Counterintelligence Service has started an investigation to find out “whether internal communications within the air force” could have been intercepted.
During the recorded conversation, the military officials also discussed possible targets including the Kerch Bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea, according to reports.
Russian propaganda were quick to criticize Germany over the leaked recording, with former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev falsely claiming that German generals had discussed plans to attack Russian targets in Crimea. The recording only shows German military officials discussing scenarios in which Ukraine could use the Taurus cruise missiles if Germany were to supply them.
“Our historic adversaries, the Germans, have once again turned into our archenemies,” Medvedev tweeted.
