The documents that circulate on the web suppose “a very serious risk to national security and have the potential to spread disinformation”Chris Meagher, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters.
What happened
Dozens of photos of documents have been surfacing on Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other sites in recent days, though some may have circulated online for weeks or months before they began to receive media attention. last week, from a New York Times note.
Two days ago, France 24 published that Washington assumed that “Russian or pro-Russian forces” leaked those classified war documents “and modified their data in a propaganda act that is detrimental to the upcoming planned counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Army against Russian troops.”
“We are continuing to investigate how this happened, as well as the extent of the problem. Steps have been taken to take a closer look at how this type of information is distributed and to whom,” Meagher said today.
Meagher reported that the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, He was only informed of the issue on the morning of last Wednesday, the day the New York Times note was published.
He was not the only official who showed his concern: “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. And then if action needs to be taken, as we learn more about the extent of what happened, obviously we’ll take it.”warned the coordinator of Strategic Communications of the National Security Council, John Kirby.
Kirby added that President Joe Biden was told about the intelligence leak related to Ukraine’s battle plans for a counteroffensive against Russian forces.
What the documents contain
Many documents are related to Ukraine, such as one that provides information on the country’s air defenses or another about international efforts to increase their military forces.
But others point to US surveillance of its allies, such as one who claims that leaders of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad advocated national protests against a controversial judicial reform plan.
Some Americans contacted Washington’s international allies to discuss the issue, and congressional area committees were informed, the Pentagon said.
Meagher declined to comment on whether the documents are authentic. and said that a Pentagon team is working to make that assessment, but noted that the photos circulating on the web appear to show sensitive information.
“The photos appear to show documents similar in format to those used to provide daily updates to our top brass on Ukraine and Russia-related operations, as well as other intelligence updates.”he said, but some “seem to have been altered,” reported the AFP agency.
This includes a document circulating online that appears to have been doctored to show that Ukraine had suffered more casualties than Russia, when the apparent original version stated otherwise.
The consequences of the apparent leak could be significant because it endangers US intelligence sources while providing valuable information to enemies.
“Disclosure of sensitive classified material can have tremendous implications not only for our national security, but could lead to loss of life.”Meagher admitted.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin affirmed that the alleged documentation is “quite interesting” and remarked that “it cannot be ruled out” that the US has spied on the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski.
“The fact that the United States began surveillance of various heads of state a long time ago, especially in European capitals, has repeatedly come to light and caused several scandals”said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov.
According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Peskov assessed that “it cannot be ruled out” that Washington has spied on Zelenski, after the US television channel CNN reported over the weekend that one of the leaked documents would point in this direction.
The adviser to the Presidential Office of Ukraine, Mikhailo Podoliak, limited himself to calling this information “strange” and stressed that all employees close to Zelensky work in an “absolutely professional” manner, according to the Ukrinform agency.
According to the Europa Press agency, the leaks also include documents from other international conflicts, such as alleged tensions between Washington and Seoul over military aid or information about the Wagner Group mercenary group, owned by an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Source: Ambito
