Ukraine war: Germany and Russia spar over leaked recording as ‘British soldiers secret exposed’

While no casualties have been reported, authorities have suspended railway traffic from using the bridge. Located in Russia’s southwest, the Samara region is one of the country’s heavy industry hubs.

The incident, described by the Russian Railways company as “illegal interference”, was caused by an explosive device, reported Tass.

Russia, in recent months, has reported a series of attacks on its industrial and logistics infrastructure which it blamed on Ukraine.

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Ukraine will this week launch a campaign for international tourists – telling the world that it has the infrastructure, hotels and service to support visitors.

On the eve of the world’s biggest travel event, ITB in Berlin, the chair of Ukraine’s State Agency for Tourism Development has told The Independent that tourism will be an essential part of post-war recovery.

Mariana Oleskiv said: “We welcome our guests if they don’t come with guns.

“Any money that people will spend in Ukraine will help the economy to recover.

“We have now the brand of Ukraine developed and well known around the world. But it’s not associated with tourism.”

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The German government on Monday vehemently rejected allegations that Russia‘s leak of a conversation by high-ranking German military officers was an indication that Berlin was preparing for war against Russia.

At the same time, the government sought to contain the domestic fallout from the leak and promised a quick investigation into how it was possible that a conversation by top German military personnel could be intercepted and published.

“It is absolutely clear that such claims that this conversation would prove, that Germany is preparing a war against Russia, that this is absurdly infamous Russian propaganda,” a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters in Berlin.

Government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said the leak was part of Russia’s “information war” against the West, and that the aim was to create discord within Germany.

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The leak of a conversation revealing Britain’s activities on the ground in Ukraine is a security breach that is “worrying on a number of levels,” a prominent Conservative MP has said.

British soldiers are “on the ground” in Ukraine helping Kyiv’s forces fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles, according to the leak in Russian media of a top-secret call involving German air force officers, authenticated by Berlin. During the conversation, Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz, the head of the German air force, describes how the UK and Ukraine work to deploy Storm Shadow missiles against targets behind Russian lines.

“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.”

Berlin has launched an investigation. Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has described the leak of the conversation as part of Russia’s “information war” against the West, and said it is about “undermining our resolve”. On Monday, the German government sought to contain the domestic fallout from the leak and promised a quick investigation into how it was possible that a conversation by top German military personnel could be intercepted and published.

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The U.N. atomic watchdog agency’s director said that he’s due to depart for a trip to Moscow on Tuesday for high-level talks with Russian officials to discuss the issue of nuclear safety in Ukraine.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi made the announcement on Monday, the first day of a regular meeting of the agency’s 35-nation board of governors in Vienna. There was no immediate confirmation of the trip from the Kremlin.

“The situation continues to be very fragile,” Grossi told reporters, referring to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant located in southeastern Ukraine.

The safety of the nuclear plant, which is Europe’s largest, is “of tremendous importance in terms of international peace and security,” he said.

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The European Commission will propose on Tuesday ways for the European Union to boost its arms industry so it can shift to “war economy mode” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Thierry Breton, the European industry commissioner, will lay out proposals to encourage EU countries to buy more weapons together from European companies, and to help such firms increase production capacity, according to EU officials.

“We need to change the paradigm and move into war economy mode. This also means that the European defence industry must take more risks, with our support,” said Breton, previewing the package.

Breton, a French former tech company CEO, has also said the possibility of another U.S. presidential term for Donald Trump – who has questioned Washington’s commitments to NATO – means Europe has to do more to protect itself.

“In the current geopolitical context, Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security, regardless of the outcome of our allies elections every four years, Breton said.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said the alleged leak is “obviously a matter for Germany to investigate and you’ve got the chancellor Scholz’s words on this”.

“I think he said that it’s clearly a very serious matter and that’s why it’s now being investigated very carefully,” he added.

“On our part, the UK was the first country to provide long-range precision strike missiles to Ukraine and we would encourage our allies to do the same. We have been clear from the outset that the UK would provide Ukraine with the necessary aid, including lethal support to defend itself and reclaim its sovereign territory.”

Former Army chief Lord Dannatt said he would like to see defence spending increase by up to 4%.

He added that there is a “very strong case to say we should be giving the Ukrainians more, to support them more”.

Former Army chief Lord Dannatt said the German air force officers who were caught talking on the unencrypted call should be “censured pretty heavily”.

He told 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, they 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.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman spoke of Western unity when asked about the alleged leak.

Reporters were told “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,” he added.

It is likely conversations between Germany and the UK will take place behind the scenes.

The spokesman would not be drawn on UK operations in Ukraine, but said there was a “small number of troops” providing training.