The New York Times (NYT) reports that many classified documents with “secret details” of US and NATO preparations to boost the Ukrainian army in preparation for an imminent Russian attack were leaked online. The Biden administration has started an investigation into the documents, which are already making their way around on Twitter and Telegram and have raised severe concerns about security breaches.
In Russia and Ukraine, the two most popular social media platforms are Twitter and Telegram.
The Pentagon’s deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told the Times, “We are aware of the claims of social media posts, and the department is evaluating the matter. Experts cautioned that although the documents appear to be real, they could very well be a fraud intended to divert the Russian soldiers and give the disinformation players the upper hand.
Nine of the 12 Ukrainian combat brigades were reportedly being trained by US and NATO forces
The leaked documents, according to the NYT report, contain no information about battle plans and do not indicate how or when Ukraine expects to start its offensive. The documents are only five weeks old, but they do suggest that the Russian military will launch an attack within the next month or two, according to the article. () Nine of the 12 Ukrainian combat brigades were reportedly being trained by US and NATO forces, according to other information in these records about the training plans of those units.
The newspaper said that according to the documents, 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles are required to repel the Russian army. The documents, at least one of which was marked “top secret,” were spread via pro-Russian government channels, according to the report.
The documents also provide expenditure rates for ammunition used by the Ukrainian military, such as the HIMARS rocket systems, which are artillery rocket systems developed in the US and have shown to be very effective against Russian forces.
Though the exact method of the documents’ internet breach is unknown, pro-Russian government channels have been sharing and disseminating the briefing slides, according to military analysts who spoke to the New York Times. The experts expressed concern that documents made public by Russian sources would be selectively changed to portray false information.
