Dhe US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into classified documents circulating on the Internet. “We have been in contact with the Department of Defense on this matter and have started an investigation,” a spokesman for the Department of Justice in Washington told the AFP news agency on Saturday evening. The Pentagon said Friday it was investigating the leak and had officially notified the Justice Department of the matter.
A number of secret government documents have recently appeared on online platforms such as Twitter, Telegram and Discord. Among them were secret documents on plans by the United States and NATO to help Ukraine prepare for a spring offensive against Russia, according to a New York Times report on Thursday.
According to the newspaper, the documents should contain details about arms deliveries, battalion strengths and other sensitive information. A document summarizes the training plans of twelve Ukrainian combat brigades. According to media reports, the documents also contain information on ammunition consumption. There are also maps showing the course of the front and the locations of Russian and Ukrainian troops and their strengths. Some of the documents marked as “secret” came from February and March, as the news portal “Politico” reported.
Documents a few weeks old
Analysis and information on other countries, such as China or Israel, are also included in the documents, the Washington Post newspaper wrote. It is also partly possible to see the methods used by the American secret services to collect the information and who the sources are. The documents apparently came from various intelligence agencies and even from the military high command, the Wall Street Journal reported. It seems to be briefing documents, it said.
According to the New York Times, the documents were distributed through pro-Russian channels. Government officials told the Washington Post that some of the documents appeared to have been tampered with. However, many of the documents are consistent with the reports of the American foreign intelligence service CIA on the international situation, which are intended for senior levels of the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department.
Experts warned that some of the documents may have been deliberately falsified as part of a Russian disinformation campaign. For example, higher fatalities among the Ukrainian troops and lower Russian losses were reported.
It is unclear who published the documents. The mole is now being searched for feverishly. The investigations were first and foremost directed inwards, CNN reported, citing government circles. Photographs of printouts of the secret documents can be seen on the Internet. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of employees and outsiders with the appropriate level of security would have had access, a Defense Department official told the Washington Post. Such violations are among the most serious crimes committed to the national security of the United States, a former Air Force attorney told the newspaper.
The documents could harm Ukraine and the United States in several ways. Although they are a few weeks old, they could still provide Moscow with valuable information, Dmitry Alperovich, head of the Silverado Policy Accelerator think tank, told the Washington Post. Although they did not contain concrete battle plans, they did show the type and quantity of Western weapons that had arrived on Ukraine’s battlefields, how many soldiers could use them, and how Ukraine intended to defend itself against Russian attacks.
Also spied on allies
The documents also made it clear to what extent Russia’s security apparatus was penetrated by American secret services, wrote the New York Times. That gives Moscow information about where its weak points are.
Ukraine has been claiming for days that the documents were forged by Russia. “It’s an ordinary intelligence game,” said Presidential Office Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak. The Russian secret services prepared the documents themselves with the aim of sowing doubts and discord among Ukraine’s allies and distracting them from the next stages of the war.
Russia, on the other hand, sees the reports in the United States as confirmation of Washington’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN that US and NATO involvement in the conflict continues to grow. “We’re keeping an eye on the process.” However, Russia does not expect any influence on its warfare – and expects a victory. In contrast, the Institute for War Studies (ISW) noted fear and nervousness among Russian war bloggers after the documents were published.
As the documents show, the American services also spied on the ranks of their own allies. That could cause upsets between the Allies. The releases also raise new questions about the security of intelligence information passed to the United States by other countries, it said, referring to the wide-ranging exchange of classified information between the so-called Five Eyes nations of America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.