Scholz promises inquiry after Russia publishes tapped military discussions

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German chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised a full investigation after Russia published a recording of a phone call between senior German air force officers in which they appeared to discuss supplying missiles to Ukraine. 

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with Pope Francis in Rome, Scholz described the incident as a “very serious affair”. “It will be investigated very carefully, intensively and quickly,” he said. “It is also necessary to do so.”

Politicians from parties in Scholz’s coalition expressed concern that Russia may have eavesdropped on other sensitive conversations, and that government communications may no longer be adequately protected. 

On Friday Margarita Simonyan, head of Russian state broadcaster RT, posted a recording on her Telegram channel in which the head of the Luftwaffe, Ingo Gerhartz, discussed the possibility of deploying German Taurus missiles in Ukraine with other senior officers. In the 30-minute conversation they also discussed whether Ukraine could attack Russian targets without the participation of German soldiers, and how many missiles could be delivered to Ukraine.

Scholz has so far refused to deliver Tauruses to Kyiv.

According to German news agency DPA, the officers were speaking on the Webex conference platform.

The German defence ministry said: “According to our assessment, a Luftwaffe conversation was tapped. We cannot say for sure whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media.”

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday about the German armed forces’ “cunning plans” which “became apparent due to the publication of this audio recording”.

There was shock in Berlin that the security of army communications had been compromised in such a flagrant way, with many senior politicians demanding root-and-branch…