Cyberattacks, sabotage, drones - Is Germany ready for war? | DW Documentary

Carsten Breuer is Inspector General of the German Armed Forces, and thus the highest-ranking soldier in Germany. He says that Russia will be ready for a military conflict with the West in just a few years.

The documentary follows Carsten Breuer on camera for nine months. Filmmakers accompany him to a meeting with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), as well as on trips to southern Lebanon, Ukraine, and the USA. The result is a portrait of the German government's top military advisor that also provides deep insights into the German security apparatus.

Where the military meets politics, Carsten Breuer is redefining the role of Inspector General. Unlike his predecessors, he seeks out the public eye to get his messages across. In detailed newspaper interviews, on talk shows, in conversations with citizens, he drives his points home: The Bundeswehr and society must get ready for war.

Meanwhile, the German Armed Forces are taking part in defense exercises in Lithuania designed to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. A German brigade there is expected to grow to around 5,000 soldiers by 2027 - posted as a deterrent against Russia.

At the brigade headquarters in Vilnius, General Breuer receives a military briefing and inspects a military exercise from the hatch of an armored personnel carrier. Suddenly, the exercise is interrupted, and military radio communications are cut off.

A Russian reconnaissance aircraft has apparently been spotted in the airspace above. Incidents like this have been increasing in recent months. Cyberattacks, sabotage of military facilities, destroyed undersea cables, and drone flights - according to Breuer, these are all Putin's tests to gauge defense capabilities and resilience. From Russia's perspective, war with the West has long been underway.

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