Espoinage
Everything that is known about images said to be classified Pentagon documents circulating on social media.
What does the leak involve?
The leak involves what appear to be classified US intelligence documents – some top secret – a number of which relate to the war in Ukraine. Others give indications of how widely the US has compromised Russian decision-making, while others contain material derived from spying on allies.
Unlike other recent leaks – including material released by NSA contractor Edward Snowden and former US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning – the files appear to be hard copies of what appear to be briefing materials and slides.
Images said to be classified US intelligence documents began popping up on social media servers associated with the gaming community – including on a section of the instant messaging platform Discord that hosted debates about Ukraine. An as yet unidentified poster first began sharing the material by typing it out with the poster’s own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, posting photographs of the documents, some lying on top of a hunting magazine.
The photographed papers had folds in them, leading to the working assumption that, given the state of the documents, they were put in a pocket and taken out of a secure location, suggesting someone with a degree of access.
Is the material genuine?
The leak is being treated seriously by US intelligence agencies, who have launched investigations into the leaks. The US Department of Defense has put out a statement saying it is “continu[ing] to review and assess the validity of the photographed documents that are circulating on social media sites and that appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material”.
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However, some material that has appeared on Russian channels appears to have been altered, not least casualty assessments in the Ukraine conflict on both sides that were reportedly doctored to minimise Russian losses and amplify Ukrainian losses.
Details in some other documents have been challenged by other countries, including a claim that French soldiers have been engaged in operations in Ukraine.
That could suggest a number of things. First, intelligence is not foolproof and it could reflect only what US agencies think they know. Denials from other countries named in the material may simply be a case of them lying out of embarrassment. At least some of the material – as seems credible – may have been doctored for disinformation purposes.
On the last point Chris Meagher, a top spokesperson for the Pentagon, urged caution in “promoting or amplifying any of these documents”, adding that “it does appear that slides have been doctored”.
What are the big takeaways?
While the most eye-catching detail relates to Ukrainian military preparedness and resilience, not least reported shortfalls in weapons supplies including air defence missiles in February, the leak reinforces several key issues.
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