The secret project Merkel: As Germany helped Putin prepare for invasion of Ukraine - the media

To spread: On the eve of the illegal Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Angela Merkel government planned to implement a large -scale defensive project with Russia. It was about the construction of eight modern military training centers worth about 1 billion euros, which were to prepare Russian troops by Western standards.

According to The Telegraph, in the book "The failure is to investigate the history of Germany's politics against Russia" German journalists Katya Gloger and George Muskolo say that the German government supported the idea of ​​creating a network of training bases in Russia, equipped with the latest hosting technologies.

The project envisaged the use of laser systems, sensors and pyrotechnic devices that were able to reproduce real battle conditions - based on the German Bundesver Training Center near Magdeburg. The investigation shows that the initiative appeared after Russia with Georgia in 2008, when the Kremlin acknowledged the need to upgrade the army. The then Russian leader Vladimir Putin became interested in the experience of the German military and asked Berlin for help in creating similar centers.

According to General Joseph Nibeker, the former adviser to Chancellor Gerhard Schreder, the German Government had a political instruction to contribute to the implementation of this idea: "It was a clear task - to support Russia for cooperation as much as possible. " In 2011, during his visit to Moscow, the then Defense Minister Thomas de Mezier stated that Germany "was of interest in creating a modern, well -managed Russian army.

" At the same time, he acknowledged that he had "internal doubts" but felt considerable pressure from politicians, army structures and industrialists who supported this project. However, after the occupation of Crimea in February 2014, the agreement was finally curtailed. RheinMetall, which was to provide the technical equipment of the centers, reported that it did not have time to start implementing, and the German government blocked all forms of military cooperation with Russia.

The authors of the book point out that the details of the disclosed details are contrary to the later statements Angela Merkel, who, after his resignation, accused Poland and the Baltic country of reluctance to conduct a dialogue with Putin after the Minsk agreements. Recall that Merkel argued that in 2021 she sought to organize negotiations between the EU and the Kremlin, but the initiative was blocked by Poland and Baltic countries, fearing excessive softness to Moscow.