NYT: There may be more leaked classified documents, US authorities rush to find source of leak
There is a high probability that the leak did not come from Ukraine
A new batch of classified material leaked on social media on Friday includes more than 100 documents, the New York Times reports.
The scale of the leak, along with the secrecy of the documents themselves, has the potential to cause enormous damage, U.S. officials say.
A senior intelligence official called the leak "a nightmare for the Five Eyes" (referring to the alliance of countries that actively share intelligence – the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada).
According to the NYT, one of the documents published on the anonymous 4chan forum includes a map showing the course of the fighting in Bakhmut. However, there are documents that contain not only classified information about Ukraine's military plans.
Analysts who have studied the documents say the new batch of data contains confidential briefing materials on China, the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and terrorism.
In a statement, the Pentagon said that the Defense Department was looking into the possible leak.
Privately, however, officials from several national security agencies acknowledged both that the government was rushing to find the source of the leak and that they feared there would be more leaked documents.
One official told the NYT that the leak most likely did not come from Ukraine, as Kyiv did not have access to some of the leaked documents.
On April 7, the NYT reported that the Pentagon is studying leaked "classified documents" with an assessment of the situation in Ukraine and a timetable for preparing Ukrainian army units for a counteroffensive.
On April 6, the Wagner PMC-affiliated Telegram channel Grey Zone published information that the planned supply of weapons to equip nine new brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had been completed by April 1. Grey Zone also publishes the number of vehicles for each brigade in some detail.
The leak contains information on the composition and weapons of at least some of the Ukrainian units preparing for the offensive, as well as information on the delivery schedules of ammunition and military equipment.
According to the document, six assault brigades were supposed to be ready by March 31, and three more by April 30. The total number of weapons to be supplied to these units is 253 tanks, 381 tracked vehicles, 480 wheeled vehicles, 147 artillery pieces, and 571 HMMWVs. Ukraine is also training three more assault brigades on its own, with plans to have a total of 12 brigades. New units are being trained under the guidance of NATO instructors not only in Europe but also in Ukraine.
Background. The Office of the President of Ukraine calls the leak of classified documents "photoshopped" and "virtual pseudo-drain."
"Moscow really wants to disrupt the counteroffensive. But the Russians will see the real plans on the field. Soon," wrote Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
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