by Andrea Pinto
The Germans, precisely those who were among the forerunners of cryptographic systems with the system Enigma used in WWII, they committed a naivety that will cost them dearly in terms of reliability in the eyes of the Allies. In essence they embarrassed the Western military and intelligence structure due to the shocking "superficiality" of their military, revealing information top secret on clear communication lines, easily intercepted by the Russians and conveniently disseminated to half the world. A revelation of news that would have compromised the sending of German missiles Taurus to Ukraine.
The Russian government summoned the German ambassador in response to audio recently released by the media, in which members of the German armed forces discuss direct involvement in Ukraine and the use of Taurus missiles.
The ambassador, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, told the German press yesterday that the meeting focused on bilateral issues and did not address leaks of classified information. The German Foreign Ministry added that it was not an official summons of the diplomat.
The Kremlin said: “Germany is discussing how to attack us.". Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this. “The records indicate that plans to launch attacks against Russian territory were specifically and substantively discussed within the German military.", commented Peskov, following President Putin's threat of nuclear retaliation against the West last Thursday.
"It is necessary to understand whether the army acts autonomously. The question is: how much is Scholz able to control the situation?” Peskov reiterated.
Berlin called the Russian claims absurd, underlining Chancellor Olaf Scholz's statements in the last week, which highlighted the importance of avoiding a conflict with Russia at all costs, opposing the idea of sending troops on the ground, an idea that the French President Macron had not completely ruled it out a few days ago.
According to Scholz, the delivery of Taurus long-range missiles to Kiev would be complicated as it would also require sending military personnel to train Ukrainians on the use of these missiles.
The audio, which lasts a total of 38 minutes, documents a meeting held last week via an online Webex platform (in clear text and not with encrypted systems) between the chief of staff of the German Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, and three officers regarding the use of Taurus cruise missiles against Russian targets. During the conversation, intended as preparatory for a briefing to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the Kerch bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to the Russian Federation, was mentioned.
German authorities and media are asking for clarification on the publication of confidential conversations between soldiers, considered a serious security breach, and are wondering not only if, but to what extent Russia is spying on the country.
Counterintelligence will present a report on the incident next week, which Pistorius has already called an act of "hybrid warfare".
Germany has around 600 Taurus missiles and is considering sending 100 of them to Ukraine in two batches of 50. German officials then discussed targets the Ukrainians could hit with the missiles, which have a range of 500 km, such as Russian ammunition depots and the Kerch bridge to Crimea. Germany is now seen by Britain and other Allies as unreliable thus compromising arms transfers to Ukraine and Kiev's use of cruise missiles.
The details of the meetings between German officers
The head of the German air force used an unencrypted telephone line to discuss highly sensitive military secrets, including the use of "British ground personnel" to help Germany deploy cruise missiles in Ukraine. Britain and other NATO Allies were dismayed by the dangerous security breach which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz himself said was "very serious". Russia has, in fact, intercepted conversations between Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz and three senior officers of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) while they were using the webex software on a free-to-air internet line. The interception confirmed the presence of some British Army soldiers and details on the deployment of the British Storm Shadow missiles. The head of the German operations and exercises department, according to The Guardian, held a 38-minute conference call on February 19 to discuss the probable deployment of German Taurus cruise missiles in Ukraine.
The same high German officer also explained in another "unencrypted" communication the activities of the French during the loading of ships leaving for Ukraine or when they loaded Scalp missiles onto planes. All information proved to be invaluable for Russian intelligence to plan the defense but above all the attacks on Ukrainian territory.
The interceptions also revealed that Ukrainian planes could soon deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Another German officer said via telephone that “the military must be very careful from the beginning to avoid any words that could involve us in the conflict". "Once they have been trained, we will ask the British if they will take over the training phase from the Ukrainians.”
Enigma
It was an electromechanical device used to encrypt and decipher messages. The machine was born from a commercialization attempt which then failed but was widely used by the German armed forces during the Nazi period and the Second World War.
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