The Claim:
On March 1, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claims on social media that “Germany is preparing for war with Russia”. Medvedev disseminated this claim in both Russian and English on his Telegram account. The Russian state press service, TASS, echoed this claim in a headline: “Germany Prepares for War Against Russia.”
Narrative Context:
The Russian government engages in hacking, clandestinely recording, and monitoring the accounts of foreign government officials, political leaders, and critics of the regime. It frequently utilizes such material to attempt to undermine the credibility of their targets. In this latest instance, a leaked conversation between two senior German officials discussing the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine was released to Russian state media and de-contextualized by Russian state officials and media platforms. This was aimed to sow division among Germans and undermine the German government.
The Facts:
In early March 2024, Russian media outlets released an audio clip from a Webex conference involving high-ranking German defense officials. The conversation touched on arms support for Ukraine and the possibility of an attack by Kyiv on a Crimean bridge. Germany has verified the legitimacy of this 38-minute conversation and is currently probing what it perceives to be a deliberate act of espionage by Russia, aimed at fueling an “information conflict.”
The call contained no evidence that Germany is preparing to attack or to directly go to war with Russia.
Unlike the UK and France, Germany has not provided long range missiles to Ukraine.
