US officials have suggested the involvement of pro-Russians in the leaking of classified documents from the Pentagon, including details of the war in Ukraine. Reuters quoted 3 US officials as saying that it is likely that Moscow or elements loyal to it are behind the leaking of many classified US military documents on social media, including a partial glimpse of the war in Ukraine.
The officials noted that the documents appear to have been modified to reduce the number of deaths and injuries among Russian forces, and added that their assessments are unofficial and not linked to an investigation into the leak itself.
The leaked documents show Ukraine's combat capabilities, potential weaknesses, and NATO's broad efforts to help Ukraine in the war waged by Russia. The documents, which date back to a month ago, include US national security secrets related to the Middle East and China.
For its part, the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into the matter, and the New York Times revealed that the Pentagon is investigating how the documents were published.
The New York Times reported that a group of documents believed to detail US national security secrets began to appear on social networking sites. It quoted US officials as saying that the number of documents exceeds 100. It described the leak as a nightmare for the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, which exchange intelligence information.
According to a former Pentagon official, the leak appears to be a deliberate act to harm the efforts of Ukraine, the United States and NATO.
In the first official Ukrainian comment on the leaked Pentagon documents, the advisor to the Ukrainian President, Mykhailo Podolyak, said: What I discussed about Ukraine's preparations for a counterattack is fake and Russian disinformation.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there is no alternative to returning Crimea, which is occupied by Russia, to Ukraine's control. "The world should know that respect and order will return to international relations only when the Ukrainian flag returns to Crimea," he said in a video message released by his office (Friday).
Zelensky's comments come after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested that Kiev give up Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, as part of a peace agreement with Moscow.
On the ground, local sources in the city of Donetsk reported that one person was killed and others injured in a bombing that targeted the city in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.
Russian military sites said that the Ukrainian bombing that targeted a market in the city center was with HIMARS missile launchers. And the pro-Russian Donetsk authorities announced that 9 people were killed as a result of the Ukrainian forces’ shelling of the city’s Kalininsky district.
Regarding the situation in Bakhmut, the British Ministry of Defense stated in an intelligence assessment that the Russian forces had recently regained momentum in the battle for control of the city, and were now threatening the supply line of Ukrainian forces from the west.
Okaz (Washington, Moscow) @okaz_online
