Kiev and Moscow have commented on the data leak from US documents. Ukraine is angry – and Russia is interested.
The leadership in Kiev is angry after the leak of secret documents, among other things, on Western support for Ukraine. The country has therefore changed some of its military plans, the broadcaster CNN reported, citing those close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Recently, a number of secret government documents have gradually appeared on online platforms such as Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other platforms. Among them were secret documents on US and NATO plans 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. On Saturday, the US Department of Justice launched an investigation into the secret documents distributed on the Internet.
New documents keep popping up, including information that not only affects Ukraine and Russia, but also highly sensitive assessments by US allies. According to the New York Times, some documents appear to contain information about internal debates in the governments of US allies – such as discussions about whether South Korea should provide the US with artillery shells for use in Ukraine.
USA worried about data leak
In Washington, the publication of the secret US documents on the Internet has caused great concern. The Pentagon is still checking the authenticity of the photographed documents, but they “appeared to contain sensitive and top secret material,” Defense Department Deputy Spokesman Sabrina Singh said in Washington on Sunday. According to information from the “New York Times”, they contained, among other things, information on US and NATO plans to support a Ukrainian military offensive against Russia in the spring.
The Pentagon and the US Department of Justice are working hard to examine the possible consequences of the incident for “national security,” the spokeswoman said. An “inter-agency working group” was set up for this purpose. This focuses on assessing the impact “on US national security and on our allies and partners.”
USA are said to have spied on Zelenskyj
According to reports from numerous US media, the documents also show how deeply Washington’s secret services are also examining their allies. A document shows that the United States also spied on Zelenskyy. The fact in itself is not a surprise, but Ukrainian officials are deeply frustrated by the data leak, CNN wrote, citing a person close to Zelenskyy.
The “New York Times”, for example, reported on weaknesses in the Ukrainian air defense system, citing the documents. This must be strengthened to withstand the Russian attacks. Ukraine has long been demanding more ammunition and weapons for the war against Russia. Russia sees the published documents as further evidence of US and NATO involvement in the war in Ukraine.
However, it is still unclear who published the documents, including those of the US secret services, and whether they are all genuine. According to the New York Times, the documents were distributed through pro-Russian channels. US government officials told the Washington Post that some of the documents had apparently been manipulated. However, many other documents are consistent with CIA reports on the international situation, which are intended for senior levels of the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department.
It is questionable whether leaked documents are real
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.
The broadcaster CNN reported, citing a document, that 43,000 Russian soldiers are said to have been killed so far during the war. On the Ukrainian side, the number of dead was 17,500, it said. According to experts, in the manipulated versions of the documents that surfaced in Russian channels, the number of Russians killed was half as high, while the number of Ukrainians killed was higher than in the original version.
According to CNN, US intelligence was also able to uncover plans by the Russian side to attack the tanks supplied by NATO countries. Several US media reported that because of the intercepted information, Russia may now change lines of communication to cover up its plans. US authorities also fear that information providers in the Russian ranks could be in danger.
According to CNN, intercepted information on the Ukrainian side could have led to the United States not supplying the country with longer-range missiles, for example to prevent Kiev attacks on Russian territory. According to a document, Zelenskyj suggested that Russian positions in the Rostov area be shelled. Drones should be used for this.
Kremlin: “The leaks are somewhat interesting”
The Kremlin in Moscow is following the release of secret US documents, including those on the war in Ukraine, with interest. “The leaks are reasonably interesting, everyone is studying, analyzing and discussing them broadly,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. US media had previously reported on the content of the documents published on social networks. There is also information from US intelligence services on the Ukrainian warfare.
When asked about a possible involvement of Russian authorities in the publication, the Kremlin spokesman said that he could not comment. “We all know that this is again about this tendency to blame Russia for everything, always and everywhere and to pin everything on Russia,” said Peskov. This blame is a “common disease”, which is why there is nothing to comment on.
After the first leaks were published on Friday, Peskov said that the documents show how deeply the US and NATO countries are involved in the war in Ukraine.
Peskov commented on reports that Zelenskyy had also been spied on by the US authorities. “You can’t rule that out,” he said. Cases have already become known in the past in which the USA spied on various heads of state and government, especially in the European capitals, which then led to scandals. In 2013, for example, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel was outraged because a US secret service tapped her cell phone.
Memories of Iraq and Afghanistan revelations
The incident also brings back memories of the 2010 online platform Wikileaks’ disclosure of some 700,000 confidential documents related to US military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, including explosive information about the killing of civilians and the abuse of prisoners.
The US is demanding the extradition of 51-year-old Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is being held in a high-security prison in London, because of the revelations.