A leaked audio recording from German military officials has sparked international controversy, with the Kremlin alleging it reveals direct Western involvement in the Ukraine war through British troops being “on the ground” assisting Kyiv’s forces with long-range missile strikes.
The 38-minute call, which occurred two weeks ago between several high-ranking German air force officers using the WebEx conferencing platform, appears to have been intercepted by Russian intelligence and released on the Telegram messaging app by Margarita Simonyan, editor of the Kremlin-backed RT news channel.
While the authenticity of the recording has been confirmed by Berlin, its contents have prompted furious reactions and denials from both German and British officials regarding any potential escalation of NATO member state involvement in the conflict on Ukrainian soil.
At the heart of the leaked discussion is the question of whether Germany will supply Ukraine with its Taurus long-range cruise missiles, which can strike targets up to 300 miles (500km) away – farther than the British Storm Shadow and French Scalp equivalents.
According to the recording, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, the German air force chief, stated that British forces already have a presence working alongside Ukrainian troops to coordinate Storm Shadow missile strikes.
“When it comes to mission planning, I know how the English do it, they do it completely in reachback. They also have a few people on the ground, they do that, the French don’t,” Gerhartz said, using the military term “reachback” to refer to rear intelligence and support being provided to frontline forces.
His remarks imply that unlike the French, British military personnel are physically present in Ukraine to assist with targeting for the Storm Shadow missiles recently provided to Kyiv by London.
Additionally, the German officers mull potentially using the longer-range Taurus missiles to strike the strategic Kerch Bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea, which has been a major Russian resupply route but remained undamaged despite repeated Ukrainian attempts to demolish it.
“It would be technically feasible to blow up the bridge, but it may take 10 to 20 missiles,” one officer states, estimating the scale of munitions required for such an operation on what is described as a difficult target with relatively small bridge pillars.
The leaked conversation has inflamed tensions, with the Kremlin accusing it of demonstrating “the direct involvement of the collective West” in the Ukraine conflict, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius countered on Sunday, accusing Moscow of waging “an information war” through the release of the hacked communications.
Nevertheless, the apparent confirmation of at least some British military presence assisting Ukrainian forces on the ground represents a escalation in direct NATO involvement, which the alliance has consistently sought to avoid to prevent being regarded as a co-combatant in the war by Russia.
This is despite Britain’s confirmation last week of deploying a “small number of personnel” to Ukraine, without specifying their exact role.
The leaked call followed surprise remarks days earlier by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who revealed he would not send Taurus missiles because it would require stationing German troops in Ukraine for “target control” – something he warned could make Berlin a “participant in the war.”
The German air force officers lamented Scholz’s position while discussing potential workarounds, such as accelerated training of Ukrainian troops to operate the missiles independently, though they acknowledged that would take months of preparation.
They also complained that a German journalist allegedly briefed by Scholz’s office had falsely claimed the Taurus was not an effective weapon, calling this allegation a “bluff” intended to downplay the munition’s capabilities.
Former British defense ministers reacted with exasperation to the disclosures, while maintaining some plausible deniability around specific operational details.
“This leak is embarrassing for Berlin, though Russia likely already knew about the British presence given the intensity of its espionage,” said Tobias Ellwood, an ex-UK junior defense minister, in comments to the BBC.
However, he added: “That should not prevent some serious conversations taking place in the diplomatic corridors between Germany and Britain and indeed NATO, as well as to why this happened in the first place.”
Some defense experts have suggested Russia deliberately timed the leak now in an attempt to undermine potential German deliveries of the Taurus missiles to Ukraine and sow further discord among the NATO allies over their level of involvement in the war.
The controversy underscores the fine line that Western powers have sought to walk in progressively equipping Ukrainian forces with more advanced and longer-range weaponry, while still stopping short of direct deployments that could be construed as overt acts of war against Russia.
As the conflict grinds through its second year with no diplomatic resolution in sight, the leaked communications highlight the complex cloak-and-dagger dynamics surrounding arms flows and intelligence-sharing in support of Ukraine’s resistance.
How far allies like Britain are willing to incrementally increase that backing, and at what risk of escalating tensions with Moscow, remains one of the biggest unanswered questions looming over the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
