Gleeful Russia relishes German Taurus leak scandal

Champagne corks are popping in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's circle is gloating about the leak of secret talks between high-ranking German military officials about sending long-range Taurus weapons to help Ukraine, while the Kremlin said Monday it had summoned the German ambassador for a dressing down.

The Taurus revelations are an embarrassment to Germany's military, with NATO allies putting the boot in over the security failure, and serves as a propaganda win for the Kremlin, whose acolytes were quick to crow about sowing disunity in Berlin.

In the recording, originally obtained and released by EU-sanctioned Russian state propaganda outlet RT, Germany's military top brass discussed possible supplies of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. The most delicate part of the leaked conversation, however, involved German Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz and Brigadier General Frank Gräfe discussing whether the missiles could reach the “bridge,” presumably referring to the Kerch Bridge, a critical connection between Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Russia.

Germany confirmed that the leak was authentic and said it would conduct an internal investigation, sparking a massive storm in the West and delight in Moscow.

Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said over the weekend that the leaked talks were proof of an internal rift in the German government and political elite. “This shows that there is no unified power in Germany. This is direct proof of the lack of democracy,” she said.

Former President and current Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, as usual, went further.

"After all, our eternal opponents — the Germans — have again turned into sworn enemies," Medvedev said. "Look at how carefully and in what detail Fritzes discuss attacks on our territory using long-range missiles, select targets to hit and the most likely ways to cause maximum harm to our Motherland and our people.

 “The call of the Great Patriotic War has become relevant again: DEATH TO THE GERMAN-NAZI OCCUPIERS!” he roared on Telegram.

Putin himself has not commented on the audio leak yet, but his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned Monday that, “The [military conversation] itself suggests that in the bowels of the Bundeswehr, plans for strikes on Russian territory are being discussed in a substantive and concrete manner.”

Russia's state-owned news agency TASS reported that Monday's meeting between Berlin's ambassador and the Kremlin's foreign ministry was primarily devoted to the leak. Germany denied that the ambassador had been summoned, and said it was an "invitation to talk about various bilateral topics.” The Russian foreign ministry said it would not immediately respond to POLITICO's request for comment about the substance of the meeting.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been reluctant to send Ukraine long-range missiles, fearing that Germany risks being dragged squarely into the Kremlin's war should Kyiv use Taurus to hit targets on Russian soil. (European allies Britain and France have both provided the Ukrainian military with similar long-range missiles.)

One expert on German-Russia relations said the audio leak is being primarily used by Moscow for propaganda purposes so far, as it does not include any specific military details. It might also aim to inflame broader discussions within the German establishment to harm Scholz's reputation, Alex Yusupov, director of Russia program at Germany’s Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, told POLITICO.

"The effect so far observed is very limited, for in fact the record shows that the matter was closely examined just before the decision not to deliver the Taurus, but apparently the Russian side was sorry to leave the record unused," Yusupov added.

And RT, the state outlet which first reported on and published the audio, hinted it might not be finished yet.

“If they give me more, I'll post more. Wait for it,” wrote Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan on Sunday.

Denis Leven is hosted at POLITICO under the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.