Mr. Medvedev: 'Germany is preparing to go to war with Russia'

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Medvedev says leaked communications between German commanders show Berlin is preparing for war with Moscow.

"Any attempt to portray the exchange between German commanders as a mock battle with missiles and tanks is a vicious lie. Germany is preparing for war with Russia," Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram today.

Mr. Medvedev commented after Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russia's RT channel, on March 1 released a 38-minute and 13-second recording, along with a transcript of what is believed to be a conversation between German Air Force Commander Ingo Gerhartz, Director of the Air Force Operations Directorate Frank Graefe, and two senior commanders of the force that took place on February 19.

In the recording, the participants discussed the possibility of transferring Taurus KEPD 350 long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine so that the country could attack Russian targets. One of the targets mentioned in the recording is the Kerch Bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.

According to Mr. Medvedev, German authorities will find ways to calm public anger over the content of this recording.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. Photo: TASS — Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. Photo: *TASS*

The German Defense Ministry confirmed on March 2 that a conversation of the country's Air Force was intercepted, but it could not be determined whether the recording or the text circulated on social media had been edited. The military intelligence unit MAD is investigating how Russia intercepted it. German media said the conversation may have taken place on the Webex communication platform and that the participants were not fully encrypted.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin would investigate the incident thoroughly, carefully and promptly. He will meet with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to discuss possible responses. Germany's opposition called on parliament today to open an investigation. Eva Hogl, the German parliament's special commissioner for the military, said more training on communication security for senior officers was needed.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova demanded an explanation from Germany. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on March 2 that the recording showed that Ukraine and its supporters "do not want to change direction, still want to inflict a strategic defeat on Moscow on the battlefield."

Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, described the recording as a "humiliation" for Germany. "Germany is no longer the country with which we signed friendship treaties in the 1990s and 2000s," Mr Polyansky said.

Nhu Tam (According to TASS, DW )

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