German air force chief reveals security flaws in UK covert operations in Ukraine

Luftwaffe chiefs reportedly used unsecured phone lines to discuss highly sensitive military secrets, including using British “ground personnel” to help Germany deploy cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Russia reportedly intercepted conversations between Lieutenant General Ingo Gerharz and three senior Luftwaffe officers as they conducted top-secret military planning using standard off-the-shelf Webex video conferencing software running on office lines.

The alleged call was published by Margarita Simonyan, a Russian state television reporter and head of Russia Today, who shared an audio file on her Telegram channel and claimed it revealed the German Officers “were discussing how to attack the Crimean bridge.”

Although Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the call, a spokesman for the German Defense Ministry confirmed to AFP that the Defense Ministry believed that the conversation between the air divisions had been “intercepted”.

They added: “We are currently unable to determine whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed versions circulating on social media.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the breach “very serious” and the details appeared to confirm the deployment of British troops in Ukraine.

Important details about Britain’s Storm Shadow missile deployment were also included in the leak.

Mr Gerhardt, head of operations and exercises, held a 38-minute conference call from outside Germany on February 19.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of deploying German Taurus cruise missiles in Ukraine, an issue over which the Schulz-led coalition is divided.

“No one knows why the federal chancellor blocked the launch of the missile – which gave rise to all kinds of strange rumors,” the military official said at the start of the call.

“If we are asked about delivery methods. I know how the British do it. They always transport them in Ridgeback armored vehicles. They have several people on site,” he said, according to a Russian transcript of the call, which has been released Confirmed by the German Ministry of Defense.

In another security breach, Mr Gerhardt explained how the French “sent [Audi] Q7 loaded with Scalp missiles heading to Ukraine”.

The air force general is believed to have joined the conversation via mobile phone from a hotel room in Singapore.

This information could help Russian intelligence services track and locate such vehicles on European and Ukrainian territory.

Gerhardts also said Britain has equipped Ukrainian aircraft with Storm Shadow missiles and could help transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

Another officer, believed to be Brigadier General Frank Grave, urged caution against “any wording that might draw us into a conflict” beyond initial training of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany.

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“Once they have been trained, we will ask the British if they are willing to take over at that stage. I believe that will be the right course of action. Imagine the uproar if the media found out,” he added, referring to was about transferring missiles from the Bavarian base and “we drove to Poland.”

Germany has about 600 Taurus missiles and is considering sending 100 to Ukraine in two batches of 50 each to ensure the missile “does not change the course of hostilities.”

“That’s why we don’t want to send them all. And not all of them in one batch. We might launch 50 missiles first and then give them 50 more. That’s absolutely clear, but this is big politics ,” Mr. Gerhardts said. “I understand from French and British colleagues that the situation is the same for Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles.”

The Air Force general even described how the military pretended to the German public that the “information exchange” for missile targeting would be handled by Taurus manufacturer MBDA.

“Of course, this is a ruse, but from a political point of view it may well look different. If the exchange of information is through the manufacturer, that has nothing to do with us,” he said.

The Air Force chief downplayed the prospect of a rapid deployment, instead telling his team that missile manufacturers have the capability to carry the non-combat missiles in their arsenal for up to eight months.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the interception “a very serious matter.”

He told Bild Newspaper: “There are indications that, given the content apparently discussed, less secure means of communication were used. This is, among other things, the subject of further investigation.”

A spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense confirmed that it was investigating “whether communications from the air force department were intercepted.”

The breach comes just a week after Scholz made inappropriate comments about Britain’s deployment of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine – a move condemned by allies as endangering the safety of British military and diplomatic personnel there. .

Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace criticized the German chancellor and said, “As far as European security is concerned, he is the wrong person in the wrong job at the wrong time.”