Recordings of German Officers Discussing Aid to Ukraine is Leaked in Russia

FILED - 27 July 2019, Russia, Sewastopol: A submarine and warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet lie at anchor in the port city which is a symbol of the defense of the Crimea as an impregnable fortress. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is positioning itself for a blockade of Ukrainian ports after Moscow halted an international grain agreement, according to British defense analysts in London. Photo: Ulf Mauder/dpa
FILED - 27 July 2019, Russia, Sewastopol: A submarine and warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet lie at anchor in the port city which is a symbol of the defense of the Crimea as an impregnable fortress. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is positioning itself for a blockade of Ukrainian ports after Moscow halted an international grain agreement, according to British defense analysts in London. Photo: Ulf Mauder/dpa
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Recordings of German Officers Discussing Aid to Ukraine is Leaked in Russia

FILED - 27 July 2019, Russia, Sewastopol: A submarine and warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet lie at anchor in the port city which is a symbol of the defense of the Crimea as an impregnable fortress. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is positioning itself for a blockade of Ukrainian ports after Moscow halted an international grain agreement, according to British defense analysts in London. Photo: Ulf Mauder/dpa
FILED - 27 July 2019, Russia, Sewastopol: A submarine and warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet lie at anchor in the port city which is a symbol of the defense of the Crimea as an impregnable fortress. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is positioning itself for a blockade of Ukrainian ports after Moscow halted an international grain agreement, according to British defense analysts in London. Photo: Ulf Mauder/dpa

German authorities on Saturday said they were investigating after an audio recording, in which German military officers purportedly discussed support for Ukraine, including the potential use of Taurus missiles, was published in Russia.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was in Rome on Saturday, called it a “very serious matter" and said that German authorities were working to clarify the matter “very carefully, very intensively and very quickly.” His comments were carried by Germany's dpa news agency.
In the 38-minute recording, military officers discuss the question of how the Taurus long-range cruise missiles could be used by Ukraine. A debate has been taking place in Germany over whether to supply the missiles as Ukraine faced setbacks on the battlefield after two years of war, and with military aid from the United States being held up in Congress, The Associated Press said.
Earlier this week Scholz said he remains reluctant to send the Taurus missiles to Ukraine, pointing to a risk of Germany becoming directly involved in the war. His hesitancy is a source of friction in his three-party coalition and also annoyed Germany’s conservative opposition.
But in the purported audio recording, German officers discuss the theoretical possibility of the missiles being used in Ukraine.
Germany’s Ministry of Defense said it was investigating whether communications within the air force were intercepted by Russia. In a statement carried by dpa, it said: “According to our assessment, a conversation within the Air Force was intercepted. We cannot currently say with certainty whether changes have been made to the recorded or written version that is circulating on social media."
Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of Russian state-funded TV channel RT, posted the audio on social media.
“In this (...) recording, high-ranking Bundeswehr officers discuss how they will bomb (attention!) the Crimean bridge,” she wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that the conversation took place on Feb. 19. Within the conversation, she said, one of the officers mentioned a planned trip to Ukraine on Feb. 21 to coordinate strikes on Russian targets.
Germany is now the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States and is further stepping up its support this year. But Scholz has stalled for months on Ukraine’s desire for Taurus missiles, which have a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) and could in theory be used against targets far into Russian territory.
The chancellor has long emphasized his determination to help Ukraine without escalating the war and drawing in Germany and NATO, stressing that no German soldiers will go to Ukraine.
“We will not send European soldiers to Ukraine. We don’t want a war between Russia and NATO. And we will do all we can to prevent it,” Scholz told a meeting of the Party of European Socialists in Rome on Saturday.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the future deployment of Western troops on the ground in Ukraine was not “ruled out," a suggestion quickly dismissed by Germany, Poland and other allied countries.



NKorea Building Roads, Walls Inside Demilitarized Zone

This handout image from Planet Labs PBC taken on June 11, 2024 and received on June 12, 2024 shows a view of the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
This handout image from Planet Labs PBC taken on June 11, 2024 and received on June 12, 2024 shows a view of the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
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NKorea Building Roads, Walls Inside Demilitarized Zone

This handout image from Planet Labs PBC taken on June 11, 2024 and received on June 12, 2024 shows a view of the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
This handout image from Planet Labs PBC taken on June 11, 2024 and received on June 12, 2024 shows a view of the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang. (Photo by Handout / Planet Labs PBC / AFP)

North Korea's military has been building roads and walls inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates it from the South, the Yonhap news agency reported Saturday.

The construction activities are taking place north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that runs through the middle of the DMZ, the South Korean agency said, citing an unnamed military source.

The report follows an incident last week when South Korean forces fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the MDL.

South Korean authorities said it was likely accidental, and Yonhap quoted a military spokesman as saying some of the North Koreans were carrying work tools.

"Recently, the North Korean military has been erecting walls, digging the ground and constructing roads in some areas between the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and the Northern Limit Line in the DMZ," the military source said, according to Yonhap on Saturday.

It was not clear what they were building, the source told Yonhap.

When asked about the report, the South Korean military said in a statement that it was "closely tracking and monitoring the activities of the North Korean military", and that "further analysis is required".

It said it could not share the South Korean response to these actions "to ensure the safety of the personnel proceeding with an operation", without offering further details.

South Korea's spy agency told AFP this week that it had detected signs that North Korea was demolishing sections of a railway line connecting the two countries.

That followed an escalation in the propaganda war between the two Koreas.

North Korea sent more than a thousand balloons carrying trash into the South, describing them as retaliation for the propaganda balloons sent the other way by anti-Pyongyang activists.

Then, South Korea resumed blasting K-pop songs and news broadcasts at the North, using loudspeakers installed at the border.

The resumption of the loudspeaker campaign prompted Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to threaten an unspecified "new countermeasure".