Leaks reveal Germany's unsecured talks on Ukraine arms support

The conversation, intercepted by Russia, took place on February 19 and was published by the Russian English-language state television RT on March 1. During the discussion, Air Force inspector Ingo Gerhartz discussed with three high-ranking military officials the potential targets of German Taurus cruise missiles and the possibility of supporting Ukraine by the Bundeswehr if these missiles were to be handed over to Kyiv.

Initially, the German defence ministry explained that the interception was made possible by the recklessness of one of the military, Brigadier General Frank Graefe, who joined the conversation from a hotel in Singapore using an unsecured mobile phone. However, after a meeting of a special investigative committee in the Bundestag on Monday evening, Pistorius admitted that more mistakes were made in this matter.

The German military counterintelligence (MAD) determined that Graefe "was not the only participant with an unsecured connection." As reported by Spiegel magazine's portal, it's most probable that the Air Force commander, Ingo Gerhartz, also used an unsecured connection. "Pistorius assured that, at least for the time being, there was no data leak during this connection," reports Spiegel.

The services are investigating whether the confidential military conversation could have been conducted through the Webex conference platform. Minister Pistorius maintains his earlier stance that it is too early to draw consequences against persons who did not follow security procedures. "I am not ready to dismiss our best officers because it would play into Putin's hands," declared Pistorius. He emphasized that the most important thing currently is to strengthen security in internal communication.

Source: PAP