Interview with the “Washington Post”
Zelenskyj on US data leak: “I was not informed in advance”
According to the data leak, he was also spied on by US intelligence services: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
© Christoph Soeder / DPA
Weapons deliveries, front lines, espionage plans: there were hundreds of pages of leaked US secret service material that the US media first reported on a few weeks ago. The man who was probably one of the most affected by the betrayal of secrets said he only found out about it on the news.
According to his own statements, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not first informed by the US government about the explosive data leak with secret documents circulating on the Internet. This emerges from an excerpt from an interview with the “Washington Post” with Selenskyj, which the newspaper published on its website on Tuesday. “I was not informed in advance from the White House or the Pentagon,” Zelenskyj said. “We didn’t have that information, and neither did I personally.” That is clearly a bad thing. The Washington Post report says that Zelenskyi found out about it from the news.
US data leak: Authorities are investigating a 21-year-old suspect
US media first reported on the leak shortly before Easter. Secret documents from US agencies on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine had been circulating on the Internet for weeks – with information on arms deliveries, assessments of what was happening in the war and also details on alleged US spying actions against partners. A 21-year-old member of the US military is suspected of having published them in a closed chat room. From there, they spread further until authorities and the media became aware of them. The man must answer in court. The US authorities are investigating further.
Zelenskyy: Revelations are ‘not good for the reputation of the White House’
In an interview with the Washington Post, Zelenskyy described the revelations as unfavorable for Kiev. They are also not good for the reputation of the White House and the United States, he said. The newspaper, citing papers from the data leak and its own sources, reported that the United States had doubts about the hoped-for success of Ukraine’s planned spring offensive against the Russian attackers. In the interview, according to the Washington Post, Selenskyj also hinted that he did not want to risk US support for his country by letting his feelings run free.
The USA is considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the defense against the Russian invasion and has been supporting Ukraine with billions in military aid since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression.