Purported evidence of German military scheming to destroy civilian infrastructure begs for an analogy to the country’s dark WWII-era past, according to Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Dmitry Polyansky.
Polyansky was reacting to the publication of an audio file, which allegedly features a discussion between Berlin’s generals on how to best assist Ukraine with strikes on the Crimean Bridge and other targets critical for the Russian peninsula with the use of German-made Taurus long-range missiles.
”This is a complete disgrace and loss of face for Germany,” Polyansky wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
According to the diplomat, the recording has revealed the country’s “new colors,” vividly portraying it as “lying, mean, aggressive, revanchist and Russophobic.”
Germany “is not any more the country with which we signed friendly treaties in the 1990s and 2000s. An analogy with [the] 1930s is inevitable,” he added.
On Friday, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan published a leaked transcript and audio recording of what is claimed to be a conversation between four senior officers of the German air force (Luftwaffe), including top General Ingo Gerhartz. She said she received the file from Russian security officials.
In the 38-minute audio, allegedly dated February 19, the German officers assumed that Berlin would send up to 50 Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine, and discussed the ways in which the Luftwaffe could provide the Ukrainians with targeting information without appearing to be directly involved in the conflict with Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that NATO had “egg on its face” due to the release of the recording, while the foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova demanded “immediate” explanations from Germany, insisting that “attempts to dodge the question will be considered an admission of guilt” by Berlin.
Germany hasn’t yet provided such explanations. A spokesman for the country’s defense ministry told the outlet Bild that an investigation has been launched into how the recording got leaked, but added that “we cannot say anything about the content of the communications, that were apparently intercepted.