Dozens of classified American Defence Department documents about the war in Ukraine have been recently leaked on the internet. The documents include maps, charts, and photographs, some of which are marked as “top secret.”
These documents provide detailed accounts of the war in Ukraine, including the casualties suffered by both sides, military vulnerabilities, and what their relative strengths are likely to be when Ukraine decides to launch its much-anticipated spring offensive.
Pentagon officials have confirmed that the documents are real, and some of them are as much as six weeks old, as cited by BBC. The documents reveal information about the training and equipment being provided to Ukraine as it puts together a dozen new brigades for an offensive that could begin within weeks.
Although much of the information in the documents is familiar, there is a lot more of it, and it is all in one place. For example, casualty figures for both Russia and Ukraine have been estimated, with the Pentagon saying it has “low confidence” in the figures due to gaps in information and deliberate attempts to mislead.
Who leaked the documents?
It is not clear who leaked the documents or why, but they were first seen on a messaging platform popular with gamers in early March. Ukraine has expressed concern about the sensitive material being leaked at such a critical moment, as the spring offensive could represent a make-or-break moment for the Zelensky government to alter dynamics on the battlefield and set conditions for peace talks later.
In Kyiv, officials have spoken about a possible disinformation campaign by Russia, while other military bloggers have suggested that it is all part of a Western plot to mislead Russian commanders. However, there is nothing in the documents leaked so far that points to the direction or thrust of Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
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