by DW News Staff at DW
Germany’s Defense Ministry has confirmed the authenticity of a recording of a confidential discussion between high-ranking Bundeswehr officers regarding the war in Ukraine that was leaked by Russian state media.
“According to our assessment, a conversation in the air force division was intercepted. We are currently unable to say for certain whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media,” said a spokeswoman for the ministry.
On Friday, The head of Russian state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan, published what she said was an audio recording between German officers, including the chief of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described it as “a very serious matter.”
“It will now be investigated very carefully, very intensively, and very quickly,” Scholz said Saturday during a visit to Rome.