Once again, papers that are said to contain secret information from the US military have appeared on the Internet. A US intelligence official describes the revelations as a nightmare.
Documents alleged to be US military secrets have surfaced again on the Internet. After papers on Ukraine’s preparations for a counter-offensive against Russia were published on Thursday, this momentum also includes China, the military situation in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and terrorism.
The documents appeared to come from the US military and intelligence agencies, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote. According to a report by the New York Times, the more than 100 classified documents published on Friday (local time) on Twitter, among other things, contained information about Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.
It was not initially known whether the documents were genuine and who might have published them.
Nightmare for the “Five Eyes”
The Pentagon is investigating the matter, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense told the “WSJ”. The same applies to the foreign intelligence service CIA. Most of the documents have already been deleted. According to the Wall Street Journal, several papers are labeled “NoForn,” meaning they must not be released abroad — even to their closest allies.
According to The New York Times, a US intelligence official described the revelations as a “nightmare” for the “Five Eyes.” The term describes the intelligence cooperation of five countries: USA, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, the documents contain detailed information about the alleged locations of Ukrainian air defense systems and forecasts of when Ukraine will run out of ammunition. It also deals with weak points in weapons that the USA has supplied to Ukraine. Most of the documents are dated February. An expert told the paper such a publication could cost lives in Ukraine.
Experts: Documents could be doctored
The Pentagon made the same statement on Thursday, when it became known about a similar release of secret documents on Ukraine’s preparations for a military offensive against Russia. According to the New York Times’ publication on Thursday, military experts said the documents had apparently been doctored for Moscow’s benefit, which could indicate a disinformation campaign from Russia.
This was shown, for example, by the information on the number of deaths in Ukraine. The supposed US estimates of Ukrainian losses are exaggerated, but the figures for Russian losses are very low. Here you can read more about it.
The New York Times reported that national security circles are wondering how much secret information has leaked out after the revelations and are making every effort to find the leak.
