German discussion of attacks on Russia: What has emerged so far

Moscow will demand an explanation from Berlin about alleged plans to provide Taurus missiles to Ukraine and help the Ukrainians strike the Crimean Bridge and other targets, senior Russian officials said on Friday.

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan published a transcript of the conversation between senior Bundeswehr officers discussing the matter, followed by a 38-minute audio recording. The German government has yet to respond.

Here is what we know so far.

Russian reactions

“We demand an explanation from Germany. Official Berlin must provide it immediately. Attempts to dodge the question will be considered an admission of guilt,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that NATO had “egg on its face” due to the recording. He also noted that the German officers knew perfectly well that they were discussing direct involvement, as evidenced by attempts to disguise or hide it, and highlighted the part about Americans operating in Ukraine.

Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said the legislature will address the recording when it reconvenes on March 11. The matter “deserves the most serious discussion” and Moscow certainly needs to “send a demand to the Bundestag to conduct an investigation,” he added.

Germans have “once again turned into our archenemies,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “Just take a look at how thoroughly and in what detail the Krauts are discussing long-range missile strikes on Russia’s territory, and are picking out targets and the most workable ways to harm our Motherland and our people.” He ended his post with the WWII-era slogan, “Death to the Fascists!”

Western reactions

When asked about the recording and the transcript on Friday, the Pentagon declined to comment, telling American reporters to reach out to the German military instead.

German officials have responded to the revelation by launching an investigation into how the recording got out. Speaking to Bild, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry declined to “say anything about the content of the communications that were apparently intercepted.”

However, multiple German media outlets have reported that a preliminary probe appeared to conclude that the recording was authentic. In light of this, Bundeswehr has resorted to censorship, with multiple accounts on X (formerly Twitter) that distributed the material being blocked in Germany, according to Bild.