German air force officers have been heard by Russia on an unencrypted call suggesting UK personnel are "on the ground" in Ukraine.
The apparent revelations made in the 38-minute phone call were made public by Russian media - and the call on which Moscow had been eavesdropping was confirmed as being authentic by the German ministry of defence.
German defence officials are now investigating the call in which the Luftwaffe officers allegedly discussed weapons for Ukraine and a potential strike by Kyiv on a bridge in Crimea.
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Ingo Gerhatz, the head of the Luftwaffe, reportedly revealed on the phone to fellow officers that British troops were on the ground in Ukraine, as they discussed the UK and France sending Storm Shadow missiles to Kyiv.
Those on the call purportedly included a German general who had dialled in from a hotel room.
The German air force chief reportedly said on the leaked call: "If we're asked about delivery methods, I know how the British do this.
"They always transport them in Ridgeback armoured vehicles. They have several people on the ground."
Following news of the reported leaks, former Army chief Lord Dannatt said he was "very disappointed".
"I think the German air force officers who were talking on an open line, frankly they should be censured pretty heavily," he said.
"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."
Germany's defence minister later said Russia was conducting an information war and was looking to create divisions within the country.
Boris Pistorius said: "The incident is much more than just the interception and publication of a conversation.
"It is part of an information war that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is waging. It is a hybrid disinformation attack. It is about division. It is about undermining our unity."
Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and former chair of the Defence Select Committee, said given the intensity of Russia's spying on Germany and others, the reported incident had probably not taught Berlin anything it did not already know.
But he said that "does not prevent some serious conversations taking place in the diplomatic corridors between Germany and Britain, and indeed Nato as well, as to why this happened in the first place".
"You can see the tensions that are playing out in capital cities as to what we should do next in Ukraine because the tide does seem to be turning unless they receive greater support," he said.
"They've not received the F-16s, they're not receiving artillery shells that they need and they're not receiving the long-range weapon systems."
He said that Germany "did respond well" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but now "we're seeing other factors coming into play".
"Unlike here, where the longer term strategic dangers to our economy and our security of Putin winning are constantly spelled out by the Prime Minister by the UK Government, and that helps retain public support for the scale of military systems," he said.
"In Germany, in contrast, it's still seen by the German public as a war in Ukraine, not part of a wider confrontation that Putin is seeking to have with the West as Putin moves his economy to a war footing and actually becomes arguably more powerful than Stalin."
The apparent leaked call is also said to include discussion on the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine –something Berlin has publicly rejected so far.
It also included talk of the training of Ukrainian soldiers and potential military targets, reports say.
Mr Ellwood also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy had been "begging for weapon systems" at the recent Munich Security Conference.
"The very public frustration about Germany not matching Britain in sending long-range air-launch missiles was second only to the frustration in delays over the Americans not sending their $60bn package of support that's got caught up in Congress," he said.
"So this interception and the leak of military planning discussion is worrying on a number of decibel levels.
"Firstly, why the obvious, why wasn't basic concept protocols followed? But it also revealed a tension, I think, between senior German military who want to see Taurus dispatched and the German Chancellor, who seems increasingly focused on his political survival rather than what's best for the continent.
"And it's also how this plays out in Germany."
The UK Ministry of Defence has not commented on these claims.
It's previously been reported that a small number of personnel have been in Ukraine to provide security to UK diplomats and to support the Ukrainian military, including through medical training.
