German Defense Minister Pistorius: leak of German officers' talks was due to one man's mistake

According to the initial investigation, the reason for the Russian interception of the conversation of Bundeswehr officers about Taurus missiles was "individual error". This was stated by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday, March 5, writes UNN with reference to DW.

Details

Pistorius explained that the error was the fault of one of the participants in the conversation who, participating from Singapore, used an "unsecured data channel," i.e. a cell phone or Wi-Fi network, to connect.

According to Pistorius, the conversation between the four officers took place as prescribed via the Webex internet platform, secure versions of which the German armed forces use for such conversations.

At the same time, the minister ruled out the possibility that a Russian spy took part in the conversation without being noticed by anyone. The head of the FRG military department also pointed out that the conversation between Bundeswehr officers took place during the Singapore Airshow, which was attended by many high-ranking European military officers. "Such an event under such conditions is a real boon for Russian intelligence services," Boris Pistorius claimed. According to him, the hotels used for the event are subject to extensive but pinpointed wiretapping, while access to the Webex conference by German officers was a "fluke.

The head of the German Defense Ministry said that preliminary disciplinary investigations have been launched against all four participants in the conversation, but, according to him, "personal consequences are not on the agenda at the moment." Pistorius emphasized that he "will not sacrifice any of his best officers for Putin's games.

Based on the results of the preliminary investigation, a decision should be made as to whether disciplinary proceedings will actually take place. For example, it should be ascertained whether there were aspects of the conversation that should not have been discussed through the platform used.

Supplement

On March 1, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Russian propaganda resource RT, published a 38-minute audio recording of "high-ranking Bundeswehr officers" discussing the possibility of Taurus missile strikes. 

Later, the German Defense Ministry acknowledged the fact of the intercepted conversation, but did not comment on its content. 

The British newspaper The Sunday Times wrote on March 3 that on February 19, the head of the German Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerharz, while at a hotel in Singapore, used the wiretap-proof Webex software on his smartphone while discussing sensitive military information via videoconference.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly opposed the transfer of Taurus missiles to Kiev . According to the German prime minister, control over the use of Taurus missiles would require sending German military personnel to Ukraine, but this step is ruled out.