While Washington continues the criminal investigation to find out how dozens of classified documents were leaked in a breach described by the Pentagon as posing a "serious threat" to national security, the New York Times revealed that one of the documents identified 4 "unexpected" scenarios for ending the Russian war. Ukrainian.
The new document is an analysis conducted by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which identifies four hypothetical scenarios, including: the killing of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the elimination of the leadership of the Russian armed forces, and direct military strikes by Ukraine on the Kremlin.
The document, which dates back to February 24, suggested that the war would continue for a long time.
Experts attributed the aim of writing these scenarios by means of intelligence to help military officers, policy makers or legislators think about the possible outcomes of the conflict while evaluating their options.
The document bears the mark "RELIDO", indicating that the decision to disclose the information contained in it to foreign partners, for example, rests with some senior officials. US officials declined to disclose whether the document was authentic, but they did not question its authenticity. The officials cautioned that the leaked documents are outdated and, in many cases, do not represent the current assessments of the various intelligence agencies.
For his part, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov considered that the leak of classified documents may be nothing but false information aimed at misleading the Russian Federation.
In response to a question from Tass agency about Moscow's position on the leaking of information and the reason that led to this, Ryabkov told reporters today (Wednesday): We do not have a specific position, perhaps it would be interesting for someone to see these documents, if they are documents Originally, or it may be fake, or it may be misleading information published in the media.
"Since the United States is a party to the conflict and, in fact, is waging a hybrid war against us, such techniques are possible for disinformation," he added, explaining: "I am not confirming anything, I just assume that all kinds of scenarios and models can be expected here."
And US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that his country will continue to investigate the alleged leak of classified documents until it knows its source. He stressed that Washington deals with the issue of the leaked documents seriously, pointing out that he communicates with senior military leaders on a daily basis to respond to the leaked documents. He explained that the Pentagon documents date back to the period from the end of February to the first of March.
It is noteworthy that many of these documents are related to Ukraine, and some of them indicate that the United States monitors its allies, while American officials seek to reassure them after the leaks. Many of these leaks are no longer available on the sites where they were first published, amid reports that Washington is working to delete them.
Despite the possibility of falsification of some documents, the investigation reflects the "extreme concern" of the US government that the leaks revealed sensitive information about the war in Ukraine, the interception of allied communications, as well as the infiltration of US intelligence services into Russian military plans, which affected the US relationship. the United States with its allies.
Okaz (Washington) @okaz_online