Germany's Olaf Scholz vows to probe leak of secret army talks over Ukraine war

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday vowed to carry out a full investigation into reports that a videoconference of military talks on the Ukraine war was wiretapped and posted on Russian social media, potentially hurting Berlin’s image.

On Friday, the head of Russia’s state-backed RT channel, Margarita Simonyan posted a 38-minute-long recording of what she claims was a conversation between German officials discussing potential strikes on Crimea on Feb 19.

“What is being reported is a very serious matter and that is why it is now being investigated very carefully, very intensively and very quickly,” Scholz said on a visit to Rome.

What did the recording reveal?

In the leaked recording, officials can be heard discussing the possible deployment of German-made Taurus missiles by Ukrainian forces.

Topics include aiming the missiles at targets such as a key bridge over the Kerch strait linking the Russian mainland to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

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Experts consulted by Der Spiegel magazine said they believed the recording was authentic.

A German defence spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the ministry believes a conversation in the air force division was “intercepted”.

“We are currently unable to say for certain whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media,” the spokeswoman said.

‘Sworn enemies’ 

Kyiv has long been clamouring for Germany to provide it with Taurus missiles, which can reach targets up to 500 kilometres (about 300 miles) away.

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Scholz has so far refused to send the missiles, fearing that it would lead to an escalation of the conflict.

“If this story turns out to be true, it would be a highly problematic event,” Green party politician Konstantin von Notz told the RND broadcaster.

“The question arises as to whether this is a one-off incident or a structural safety problem,” he added.

With inputs from AFP