Secret documents leaked to social networks can become a problem for the exchange of confidential information between Ukraine and the United States, as well as other countries. Both sides are assessing the damage and verifying the authenticity of the papers, Howard Altman said April 7 in The War Zone referring to former intelligence and US military officials.
“Right now we are checking and comparing these materials,” Major General Kirill Budanov, head of the intelligence department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, quoted the portal as saying.
While analysts are looking for evidence of the authenticity of the materials, several sources said that documents marked “Secret” require special attention.
“The documents appear to have been originally published on the Discord server in early March and in recent days on social media, including Telegram. They are part of a much larger collection of more than 100 top secret documents and other restrictions that have been made public, according to Arik Toler, director of training and research at Bellingcat.
One retired covert ops officer said the information, if genuine, is “the holy of holies” that no outsider should see. According to the retired officer, this information – assuming the documents are real – will give Russian intelligence analysts an important insight into Ukraine’s future plans.Newspaper.ru“.
The former high-ranking US military official asked another important question – the issue of trust between the US and Ukraine.
“The first question is how they got to the public. Who lost control of it and was it someone who deliberately gave it to the Russians, or was it someone who inadvertently lost the papers that were stolen from the hotel room? There are a number of possibilities. Can the allies trust the US? Can Ukrainians trust the US to keep confidential information? I think Ukrainians are probably shocked that this got to the public,” he said.
On Saturday, April 8, the US Department of Justice launched an investigation into the leak of classified Pentagon documents that relate to Ukraine’s combat capabilities, its support for NATO, and the vulnerability of the Ukrainian army. Some of the important documents were prepared in the winter for the American generals.
A day earlier, on April 7, The New York Times reported that the scale of the leak was about 100 documents, they were posted publicly on Telegram and Twitter. Among the files are photographs of schedules of expected arms deliveries, troop and battalion numbers.
The alleged offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which should begin in May, was reported in mid-March by the American newspaper Politico.
The special operation to protect Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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