ADVERTISEMENTA raft of social media posts have surfaced on X, TikTok and Telegram claiming that the US administration is prohibiting Germany from providing Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, reportedly because they contain American critical materials.
Euroverify investigated these claims, but found no evidence to date to corroborate them.
The Taurus KEPD-350 missile is a long-range cruise missile more sophisticated than those already provided to Ukraine by the US, France and the UK.
It can hit targets as far as 500km away — more than double the range of the cruise missiles Ukraine currently has — and could allow Kyiv to strike targets deep within Russian territory.
The missile also travels at a low altitde, making it extremely difficult for radar systems to detect.
Produced by German-Swedish entreprise Taurus Systems, the outgoing German coalition government headed by Olaf Scholz resisted international pressure to transfer the missiles from the inventory of the Bundeswehr to Ukraine’s armed forces.
Scholz, speaking in March last year, described the transfer of Taurus missiles as «a line that I do not want to cross.»
But chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz, set to be elected next week, has signalled he would be open to providing Kyiv with the weapons.
This prompted a sharp backlash from the Kremlin, whose foreign spokesperson Maria Zakharova said earlier this month that Russia would consider Taurus missile strikes on its «critical transport infrastructure» as «direct» German involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
Now, a raft of social media posts have been widely viewed on X, TikTokand Telegram claiming the Trump administration has moved to block any future German deliveries of Taurus missiles.
One X post viewed more than half a million times claims that «two American companies have informed Berlin through the State Department that they are prohibiting the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.»
We traced the origin of the report to a known pro-Kremlin disinformation site. The posts circulating on X also come from known disinformation accounts.
The claim was also shared by an independent Ukrainian outlet EuromaidanPR, which failed to name the source of the information.
Euroverify reached out to the German Federal Ministry of Defence asking for clarity on the claims, and a spokesperson said that «we do not comment on speculation.»
«Furthermore (…) we would like to inform you that we do not comment on discussions with our partners,» the spokesperson added.
ADVERTISEMENTIt remains unclear whether the incoming German government will move to provide Kyiv with the Tauruses. Whilst incoming chancellor Merz has expressed willingness, his coalition partners the Social Democratic Party, led by Scholz, remain sceptical.
But there are no confirmed reports to date that the Trump administration has tried to block the move.
Donald Trump has in the past said he «disagrees very vehemently» with using missiles to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
Yet, his administration recently resumed the delivery of military aid to Ukraine, which includes ATACMS long-range missiles.
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