The leak was first published by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, who described that she received it from Russian security officials.

It first appeared under the headline "Alleged audio of German officers discussing Crimean Bridge attack leaked" - as it featured top ranking Germany military officials in a private discussion of "a potential German operation to bomb the Crimean Bridge in Russia," as it was initially described by RT. Russian media is now openly admitting that the call was in fact intercepted by Russia. Moscow is now saying this shows "direct" German involvement in the war.

The audio could have easily been dismissed in the West as simply Russian-sourced propaganda or even an AI fake; however, in an unexpected development the highest levels of the German government have now confirmed that the audio is indeed real and Berlin launched an investigation into the "serious" breach of secured communications.

"What is being reported is a very serious matter and that is why it is now being investigated very carefully, very intensively and very quickly," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Rome.

Germany's military has also confirmed the leaked recording, but officials have avoided weighing in the actual content of what was said pending an internal investigation:

A German defense ministry spokeswoman confimed to AFP that the ministry believes a conversation in the air force division was "intercepted".

"We are currently unable to say for certain whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media," the spokeswoman said. Experts consulted by Der Spiegel magazine said they believed the recording was authentic.

Germany's Ministry of Defense said per the country's dpa: "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."