The Taurus leak and its significance for supporters of Ukraine

6 März 2024

The news that the Russian secret service had leaked a Webex-conference on Taurus deliveries by the Luftwaffe was the culmination of a week full of political events. French President Emmanuel Macron's push for Western ground troops in Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's reference to British and French forces already present there - which had angered the partners - and Scholz's rejection of Macron's idea were followed by the State of the Union address, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized the danger of nuclear war if NATO contingents were deployed in Ukraine. Then, at the end of the week, came the news of the leak.

In a report in the Spanish online newspaper "El Confidential", Eva Herschinger places the events in the context of the “Zeitenwende” and the contemporary challenges for the intelligence services. The Russian president's attempts to transform the liberal world order according to his ideas, the associated hybridization of threats with their effects on societies and the internal workings of the intelligence services are at the heart of Herschinger's explanations. Insecurity among the population and mistrust of the government as well as conflicts between allies are the problematic consequences of the leak, according to Herschinger.

The report in Spanish can be found here.