The American daily claims in an article published on Wednesday that it interviewed anonymously two members of the Discord social network where hundreds of pages of confidential documents were published, including some top secret, from a man with the pseudonym ” OG”.
Documents that would come from a military base
“OG” has regularly published for months hundreds of pages copied from documents in the military base where he works, the newspaper says, adding that the person questioned refused to specify which base it was.
She claimed that ‘OG’ spent ‘part of his day inside a secure facility that prohibited cell phones and other electronic devices’, and that he ‘worked hard for hours writing classified documents to share with his comrades on the Discord server”, writes the newspaper. Some information was so sensitive that it was marked “NOFORN”, that is to say not to be disclosed to strangers, advances the Washington Post.
“Mutual Love of Guns”
The group of about 24 people, mostly men and boys, formed around their “mutual love of guns, military hardware and God”, forming a “club by cooptation in 2020 on Discord “, according to the media.
The documents posted online reveal US intelligence concerns about the viability of a Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces, due to training and supply issues.
A document reviewed by AFP outlines US concerns about Ukraine’s ability to continue to defend against Russian strikes. Dozens of photos of these documents have been relayed on Twitter, Telegram or Discord in recent days, some having undoubtedly circulated on the internet for weeks, if not months, before attracting the attention of the press.
No authentication from US authorities
However, US authorities have not publicly confirmed the authenticity of these documents posted online, and it has not yet been independently verified. In addition to the Ukrainian subject, certain documents also seem to indicate intelligence gathering carried out by the United States and targeting some of its allies. Washington has since tried to reassure them.
Many documents are no longer available where they were published, and according to the press, the authorities have had them removed. The fallout from this apparent leak could be significant, even fatal, potentially endangering US intelligence sources, while giving their enemies valuable information.