Russia's release of an audio recording of a German Air Force meeting on Friday continues to cause a stir. It is a boon for Russian propaganda, which exploits it to sow discord in Germany and put Berlin in an awkward position vis-à-vis its anti-Moscow allies.
Published on: March 4, 2024 – 6:33 p.m
5 minutes
For Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, “this is new evidence of the West's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.” Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev even assured that “Germany is preparing for war against Russia.”
The tone in Moscow has been decidedly warlike since an audio recording of a meeting of high-ranking German Air Force officers was leaked on Friday, which was obtained by Russian media RT.
“Great gift for Russian propaganda”
The conversation, which took place until February 19, discussed the possibility of supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. A topic that has been poisoning the political debate in Germany for several weeks.
This “leakage” of very sensitive discussions at the top of the Luftwaffe led to a political-military scandal in Germany. The government condemned an “information war” operation by Russia. The opposition, for its part, is saddened by the unbearable ease of communication between military officials and is calling on Olaf Scholz to explain himself to parliament.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, people are rubbing their hands. “It is a great gift that has been given to Russian propaganda,” summarizes Joanna Szostek, a specialist in Russian media at the University of Glasgow.
Russian TV channels rushed to broadcast a version of what the Germans called “cut off” footage and discussed it ad nauseum. The Bundeswehr assures that the military only discussed “hypothetical” scenarios of a delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine and their consequences. A hypothesis that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has officially denied several times.
In Russia, “this recording is presented primarily as evidence that Germany is preparing to bomb the Crimean Bridge with its Taurus missiles,” emphasizes Yevgeny Golovchenko, a specialist in Russian disinformation at the University of Copenhagen.
The German military wonders whether its missiles could be used to destroy “the bridge” (without specifying the bridge) in the version of the recording published online by Russian media. A boon for Russian propagandists who “portray this as preparation for a Western attack on a civilian target in Russian-controlled territory,” explains Joanna Szostek.
The return of the evil Germans
The Crimean Bridge has strong symbolic value for Russians. “It is often presented by Moscow as evidence of the positive impact of Russian policies on the people of Crimea [depuis l’annexion de la péninsule en 2014, NDLR], which therefore has a direct connection to the rest of Russia. Proof of the importance of this bridge: Vladimir Putin himself crossed it at its inauguration in May 2018,” recalls Joanna Szostek.
Destruction would therefore be a serious blow to the civilian population. “Russian media even published articles arguing that a German bombing of the bridge would be a violation of international humanitarian law,” notes Yevgeny Golovchenko.
Beyond the example of the bridge, all the media coverage surrounding the release of this audio excerpt “also fits perfectly into Russian propaganda, which consists of comparing the war in Ukraine with the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis,” estimates specialist Huseyn Aliyev for the war in Ukraine at the University of Glasgow.
As in 1941, the Germans are the aggressors. And they also come to the aid of the “Nazis who rule Ukraine,” to use Russian propaganda terminology. Enough to convey to the Russian population that the cause of the conflict in Ukraine is simply… just like during the Second World War.
This affair is also a new example of Russian efforts to target Germany. Berlin has been described for years as a “priority target” in Europe for Russian disinformation operations by both European authorities and disinformation monitoring organizations. A trend that will continue even after the major Russian offensive in Ukraine begins in 2022.
“Germany, the weak link”
“In Moscow’s eyes, Germany is a kind of weak link in Europe. It would be the country where the ground for his propaganda is most fertile,” claims Yevgeny Golovchenko. For Joanna Szostek, this is due to the presence of a strong community of almost 3.5 million Russian speakers, but also to a pacifist tradition and “the legacy of Ostpolitik”. [politique d’ouverture vers la Russie initiée à la fin des années 1960, NDLR]“So many elements that mean the seeds of discord sown by Russian propaganda operations are more likely to divide Germany than any other country.”
This would be all the more important for Moscow because “German economic and military power can be a great help to Kiev and therefore everything must be done so that the country supports Ukraine as united as possible,” adds Yevgeny Golovchenko.
In this case, Russia's disclosure of this meeting is “bad news for Ukraine, which was hoping to receive German missiles,” says Huseyn Aliyev. According to this expert, this affair will, for a while, “strengthen the German determination not to extradite a bull,” he says. If Berlin changed its mind about these missiles, Moscow would have fun denouncing German duplicity by ensuring that the record would prove that Germany had always planned to hand over Taurus.
One of the goals of this operation is “to show the Russians that Germany and therefore the NATO countries are hypocrites and that we should not believe what they say,” emphasizes Joanna Szostek.
For the experts interviewed by France 24, this affair has a bonus effect for Moscow: it sows doubts between Western countries and Ukraine. It embarrasses the German military by “raising the question of the security of the information transmitted to them,” assures Huseyn Aliyev. Here, too, “it is disheartening for Ukraine” because they could question the extent to which the military information they were able to obtain was intercepted by Russian spies.