Pentagon officers are reportedly racing to determine the supply of a leak of navy intelligence, which might disrupt Ukraine’s deliberate spring offensive in opposition to Russian troops.
Scores of slides had been printed on Discord and Telegram, with some relationship again to January, in accordance with The Economist.
The Pentagon is reported to be main a cross-government panel to evaluate what harm has been achieved, whereas the Division of Justice has opened a probe into the supply of the leak. Senior officers are apparently attempting to reassure their counterparts in allied nations.
The paperwork are mentioned to include detailed intelligence that may very well be of great strategic use to the Russian navy, such because the exact amount of armor and artillery held by every Ukrainian brigade, the state of its air defenses and placement of missile batteries.
Learn extra on US navy leaks: US Fears a Second Snowden Could also be Leaking Secrets and techniques.
The slides themselves, which have been reviewed by protection consultants and assessed to be reputable, are images of paper paperwork.
Some reportedly seem as if assembled right into a briefing packet by the Joint Workers’s intelligence arm (J2), whereas others include marks describing how the intelligence was obtained. These embody “SI-G” – indicating data gleaned from indicators intelligence like wire faucets.
Though among the paperwork had been altered earlier than importing to Telegram, to inflate Ukrainian casualties and understate Russian ones, most have reportedly not been manipulated.
Whereas the leaked data additionally reveals the parlous state of Russia’s navy, the leaks might sow discord among the many US and its allies at a important second of the conflict in Ukraine. There are reported particulars of what number of particular forces operatives from allied nations like France and the UK are at the moment coaching Ukrainian troops, for instance.
The leaks bring to mind the information launched by infamous US whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who’s at the moment residing in Russia. Nonetheless, whereas his information had been handed on to media shops to parse and report on, the newest leak went straight up on social media.
