Germany closing leaked conversation case is hypocritical: Zakharova

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The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson calls out Germany’s decision to close the investigation around a German Air Force inspector’s involvement in bombing the Crimean Bridge.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova attends Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, on January 18, 2023. (AP)

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called out Germany’s decision to close the investigation against an Air Force inspector who discussed strikes on Russia’s Crimean Bridge, citing it as a manifestation of Western hypocrisy.

The investigation into German Air Force inspector Ingo Gerhartz, linked to the monitoring of a discussion among Bundeswehr officers regarding the potential deployment of Taurus cruise missiles to target the Crimean Bridge, has been concluded by the Berlin prosecutor’s office.

“This entire story is another manifestation of the West’s hypocrisy,” Zakharova told Sputnik.

Plans to destroy Crimean Bridge leaked

A leak back in March revealed that the Bundeswehr was planning to destroy the Crimean Bridge, the same one Ukraine admitted to bombing, with possible involvement from US and British troops, according to the editor-in-chief of Russia Today (RT), Margarita Simonyan, who cited a 38-minute leaked audio.

Simonyan went on to submit official inquiries to German diplomatic figures, seeking clarification about the issue, which impacted Russian-German relations, as well as NATO’s involvement in the Ukraine war.

The leak, which dates back to a February 19 audio, reveals officers discussing the operational and targeting details of the homegrown Taurus long-range missiles, which Germany was mulling sending to Ukraine. Interestingly, the way it was being discussed insinuated that it had already been agreed upon. The officers were also discussing means of maintaining plausible deniability so that Germany could tread as closely as possible to the “red line” of direct involvement without crossing it.