German leaks that left British troops at risk are ‘tip of iceberg’

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German navy leaks which left British troops at risk could also be simply the “tip of the iceberg”, based on Berlin’s former intelligence chief.

August Hanning warned that extra Nato secrets and techniques might have been obtained by Russia after it revealed a video name between German navy officers discussing help for Ukraine.

A recording of the decision was leaked by Russian state media on Friday by which they mentioned the small print of British troops on the bottom in Ukraine.

On Monday, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman declined to touch upon UK operations in Ukraine, past saying there was a “small number of troops” offering safety for British diplomats and coaching for Ukrainian forces.

But on the decision, the top of the German air drive stated Britain had individuals working “on the ground” in Ukraine serving to Kyiv’s forces fireplace long-range Storm Shadow missiles.

During the dialog, Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz, the top of the German air drive, describes how the UK and Ukraine work to deploy Storm Shadow missiles towards targets behind Russian traces.

“When it comes to mission planning,” the German commander says, “I know how the English do it, they do it completely in reachback. They also have a few people on the ground, they do that, the French don’t.”

Reachback is navy jargon for acquiring gear that is just not on the battlefront.

Berlin has launched an investigation and navy specialists warned the leaks put British troops at risk.

But on Monday evening, Mr Hanning informed Germany’s Bild newspaper: “This leak could have been just the tip of the iceberg.”

Russia had already seized on the leaks as an additional instance confirming “once again that the countries of the collective West are being drawn into the conflict around Ukraine”, a key level of the nation’s justification for the continued battle in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has beforehand claimed Russia is combating towards the “collective West”, not simply Ukraine.

The prime minister’s spokesman informed reporters “it is clearly in the Kremlin’s interest to propagate misinformation” and “we should not fall into that trap”.

“We do have to treat anything coming out of the Kremlin with caution. As we know, Russia has a tendency to spread misinformation and disinformation and clearly it is in their interests to sow disunity amongst allies who are seeking to support the armed forces of Ukraine.”

While No 10 was eager to emphasize Western unity, it’s probably that stern conversations will happen with Berlin behind the scenes.

The spokesman declined to touch upon UK operations in Ukraine, past saying there was a “small number of troops” offering safety for British diplomats and coaching for Ukrainian forces.

Former chairman of the defence committee Tobias Ellwood stated “many aspects” of the leak had been regarding.

He informed the BBC: “Firstly, why weren’t basic concept protocols followed? But it also revealed a tension, I think, between senior German military who want to see Taurus dispatched and the German Chancellor, who seems increasingly focused on his political survival rather than what’s best for the continent. And it’s also how this plays out in Germany.”

He added: “You can see the tensions that are playing out in capital cities as to what we should do next in Ukraine because the tide does seem to be turning unless they receive greater support. They’ve not received the F-16s, they’re not receiving artillery shells that they need, and they’re not receiving the long range weapon systems.”

He stated that Germany “did respond well” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, however now “we’re seeing other factors coming into play”.

Mr Ellwood added: “Unlike here, where the longer term strategic dangers to our economy and our security of Putin winning are constantly spelled out by the Prime Minister by the UK Government, and that helps retain public support for the scale of military systems, in Germany, in contrast, it’s still seen by the German public as a war in Ukraine, not part of a wider confrontation that Putin is seeking to have with the West as Putin moves his economy to a war footing and actually becomes arguably more powerful than Stalin.”

Mr Ellwood added that “given the intensity of Russia’s spying on Germany and others, they probably have not learned anything that they didn’t already guess”.

But that “does not prevent some serious conversations taking place in the diplomatic corridors between Germany and Britain and indeed Nato, as well as to why this happened in the first place”.

Meanwhile, former Army chief Lord Dannatt has stated the German air drive officers who had been caught speaking on the unencrypted name needs to be “censured pretty heavily”.

He informed Times Radio: “I was very disappointed to read that story. I think the German air force officers who were talking on an open line, frankly, should be censured pretty heavily.

“They are suggesting that there are British people in Ukraine. It’s not for you or me to comment on that. We have provided a lot of equipment to them. We provided a lot of training.

“As far as I’m concerned, I think what they were talking about was whether they would or wouldn’t supply a German system akin to our Storm Shadow. I suspect that we do our training on Storm Shadow, either in this country or in Poland or elsewhere. It’s not for you or I to confirm or deny whether there are British military in Ukraine.”