The mole hunt is on. The leak of classified American documents, particularly related to Ukraine, poses “a very serious risk” to the national security of the United States, worried the Pentagon. While an interagency investigation has been opened to determine the origin of this breach, here is what is known at this stage.
Documents first posted by gamers on Discord
On March 4, several gamers argue about geopolitics and the war in Ukraine in a gaming chat room Minecrafton the Discord platform, according to a Bellingcat investigation site survey. “Here, here are documents that have leaked,” wrote one, sending a dozen photos. Some documents relating to Ukraine are marked “top secret”. But this Internet user is not the “zero patient” of the leak.
Documents were shared on March 1 on YouTuber WowMao’s Discord server. In an interview at New York Times, the latter condemned the leak, claiming not to know where it came from, and regretting not having “moderated a little more” his chanel frequented by young “very right” trolls who share memes often found by more on 4Chan. According to Bellingcat, the first classified documents may have been posted in January on another Discord channel, Thug Shaker Central. But because the server has been shut down, and most of the original photos are no longer available — presumably because the Biden administration is having them taken down via legal action — it’s impossible to confirm that at this point.
Documents distributed to thousands of federal employees
According to Fox News, the bulk of the 53 documents posted online are from Defense Department briefings. They are sent to a group of federal employees with the necessary security clearance, which can vary between 1,000 and 5,000 people. They receive them electronically on secure iPads. And if they can print them out to take them home, a security system lets you know which printer has been used. According to CNN, the Pentagon is speculating that an employee’s son may have gotten his hands on it and wanted to impress his friends on Discord. But the first documents were crumpled, as if they had been rolled up in a ball to be transported discreetly.
Washington’s doubts about a Ukrainian counter-offensive
Some of the leaked documents appear to indicate that Washington collects intelligence on its allies, such as Israel and South Korea. A leak that comes at a bad time, when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is to be welcomed at the White House at the end of April for a state visit. Officially, Seoul has claimed that a “significant” number of documents are forgeries.
At least one of the documents appears to have been altered to suggest that Ukraine suffered greater losses than Russia, when the supposed original said otherwise. In another document, the authenticity of which has not been disputed, Pentagon analysts cast doubts on a potential Ukrainian counter-offensive, which could only achieve “modest territorial gains” against Russian forces.
Another document, classified “secret” and seen by AFP, details the worrying state of Ukrainian air defenses, which have so far played a crucial role against Russian strikes, preventing Moscow from taking control of the airspace. . But this document, dated February 2023 and whose authenticity AFP could not immediately confirm, claims that 89% of Ukraine’s medium and long range defenses were made up of SA-10 and SA-11 systems. from the Soviet era, which could quickly run out of ammunition. Based on the current rate of consumption of this ammunition, the SA-11 systems could be dry by the end of March, and the SA-10s by the beginning of May, the document adds.
US damage control
US foreign and defense chiefs spoke with their Ukrainian counterparts on Tuesday to try to put out the fire. While declining to comment on the authenticity or content of the documents, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to signal to him “continued support” from the United States. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said he spoke with his counterpart Oleksii Reznikov, reiterating that Washington takes the leak of classified documents “very seriously”.