Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to Rossiya Segodnya’s question about Berlin prosecutor’s office decision to close investigation concerning Commander-in-Chief of German Air Force Ingo Gerhartz

Question: Reportedly, the Berlin prosecutor’s office has closed the investigation concerning German Air Force Inspector Ingo Gerhartz, which was conducted in connection with the interception of a conversation among Bundeswehr officers about the possible use of Taurus missiles to attack the Crimean Bridge. What can you say about this decision by the German side?

Maria Zakharova: The decision by the Berlin prosecutor’s office to close investigation concerning German Air Force Commander-in-Chief Ingo Gerhartz following the release of a recording of a conversation held by high-ranking Bundeswehr officers who discussed scenarios for striking critical civilian infrastructure in Russia using German high-precision long-range Taurus missiles, as well as the modalities of their technical support and maintenance, aligns with the traditional logic of the collective West which is all about conscious avoidance of actual actions in favour of political rhetoric and disinformation and, ultimately, concealing the truth.

At the same time, the Westerners eagerly seize upon any unsubstantiated accusation against Russia interfering in the internal affairs of foreign countries, allegedly finding Kremlin’s “hidden hand” in election campaigns, and engage in anti-Russian hysteria feeding off fabricated stories like the Novichok poisoning. In fact, they are doing everything possible to galvanise public opinion against Russia.

Look back at Britain’s many years of probing into the “Skripal poisoning,” we know that no results have been achieved. The British side chose to run a major disinformation campaign without presenting a single piece of evidence or a fact, and based its work on the “highly likely” approach. Yet, there were plenty of unwarranted accusations of Russia committing all kinds of conceivable and inconceivable crimes and violations of international law.

We observed a similar logic during the investigation conducted in Germany concerning the eavesdropping on the phone of then Chancellor Angela Merkel by US and British intelligence agencies. Berlin made every effort to sweep this issue under the rug. As a reminder, this investigation was also closed shortly after it began on the pretext that “the fact of eavesdropping could not be proven.”

It appears that the same fate awaits the “inconvenient” investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline system. Denmark and Sweden have already closed their investigations. The letter by Prime Minister Mishustin dated October 5, 2022 to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which outlined our country’s expectations regarding the involvement of Russian competent authorities and Gazprom in the investigation of the terrorist attacks in the Baltic Sea, as well as the inquiry by the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office proposing the creation of a joint Russian-German investigative group, have remained unanswered.

Overall, it appears that Berlin has things to hide. This incident is yet another manifestation of Western hypocrisy. Whenever they need to accuse Russia of anything, they do so instantly without investigations or evidence in the all-too-familiar “highly likely” manner. Whenever direct or indirect evidence of the unsavory actions by allies is available, and they are unable to come up with a “Russian trace,” Western capitals do their best to conceal the shocking truth.

We see ending the investigation concerning German citizen Ingo Gerhartz as the German ruling circles’ push to quickly “hush up” an inconvenient issue. After all, Bundeswehr officers not only disclosed plans to ramp up Germany’s direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict, but also gave away their British allies by confirming their key role in planning and executing terrorist attacks on Russian soil.

Since German politicians were unable to immediately level the German public opinion’s reaction by shifting its focus to the fact of the “leak” itself and by once again scaring the public with tales about “Russian spy activity,” they resorted to the tried-and-tested method of “no topic − no problem.” This is what Western countries always do when they are caught red-handed.