Anger at ‘unreliable’ Germany revealing secrets about UK military ties with Ukraine after Russia intercepts ‘unsecure’ online chat between Berlin executives

Germany is facing anger today after an air chief revealed secret British operations in Ukraine on an ‘unsecure’ telephone line.

Berlin has been labeled ‘unreliable’ after a telephone conversation between Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz and senior Luftwaffe officers was intercepted by Russia.

The discussions included confirmation that British personnel are being deployed to Ukraine, and details of how Storm Shadow missiles will be deployed in the country.

The talks also exposed a division between the German military and Chancellor Olaf Scholz over whether Kiev should be supplied with its own Taurus missile system.

Mr Scholz confirmed that the recording broadcast by Moscow’s state broadcaster was authentic and described the security breach as “very serious”.

The breach could jeopardize arms supplies from Britain and France to Ukraine and hamper Kiev’s crucial use of cruise missiles in the war against Russia.

It will also further inflame tensions between NATO allies, after Scholz previously publicly referred to the British military presence in Ukraine.

Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the episode showed Germany was “neither safe nor reliable.”

“We know that Germany is quite penetrated by Russian intelligence services, so it just shows that they are neither safe nor reliable,” he told The Times.

The talks include confirmation that the British army will be deployed in Ukraine (photo: British troops take part in military exercises in Poland)

Russia intercepted the 38-minute conversation between Lt. Gerhartz and three senior officers on February 19 after they used standard videoconferencing software instead of an encrypted line.

The head of Russian state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan, published the audio recording on messaging app Telegram on Friday.

According to a Russian transcript of the call, the head of the German air force said: “When we are asked about delivery methods, I know how the British do it. They always transport them in armored Ridgeback vehicles. There are several people on the ground.’

Gerhartz also explained during the conversation how the French ‘steer’ [Audi] Q7s loaded with Scalp missiles into Ukraine’.

The revelations in this second security blunder will help Russian intelligence detect and locate such vehicles in Europe and on the territory of Ukraine.

Gerhartz further added that Britain had equipped Ukrainian aircraft with Storm Shadows and could assist with the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

Germany is considering sending 100 of its 600 Taurus missiles to Kviv in two batches of 50, according to the air chief.

Gerhartz says this is to ensure that the missile “will not change the course of hostilities.”

He added: “That’s why we don’t want to send them all. And not all in one batch. We can send fifty missiles first and then give them fifty more. This is perfectly clear, but this is big politics.

“I have heard from my French and British colleagues that the situation with the Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles is the same.”

The missiles have a range of 500 km and the officers were heard talking about targets the Ukrainians could hit with them, such as Russian ammunition depots and the Kerch Bridge to Crimea.

Former head of the British Army Lord Dannatt told Times Radio that those involved in the call should be ‘heavily censored’.

“I was very disappointed when I read that story,” he said. “I think the German air force officers who talked in an open line should be quite severely censored, to be honest.”

Tobias Ellwood, a former chairman of the defense committee, said the “interception and leakage of military planning discussions is concerning on a number of decibel levels.”

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that one aspect is ‘why were the basic draft protocols not followed’ and another is ‘how this plays out in Germany’.

added that “given the intensity of Russian spying on Germany and others, they probably didn’t learn anything they hadn’t already guessed.” But that “does not prevent serious discussions from taking place in the diplomatic corridors between Germany and Britain and even NATO, and also about why this happened in the first place.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed that a recording released by Russia’s state broadcaster was authentic and described the security breach as “very serious.”

Germany considers sending 100 of its 600 Taurus missiles (pictured) to Ukraine in two batches of 50

German politicians said Russia leaked the conversation to pressure the chancellor not to deliver the Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Scholz has so far refused to send the missiles, which are similar to Britain’s Storm Shadow, amid political divisions in the country.

Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the Times: “We know that Germany is quite penetrated by Russian intelligence services, so it just shows that they are neither safe nor reliable.”

The Ministry of Defense declined to comment.