Secret documents on the US strategy in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have been published on Twitter, a platform that the billionaire has owned since last October.
It is shameful and does not reflect a good image at a time when the Russian war in Ukraine has entered its second year, with no certainty about its outcome.
Secret documents that appear to outline US strategy in Ukraine, China and the Middle East appeared online on April 5 and in the days that followed. These classified documents detail the strategy of the United States and its NATO allies to support Ukraine in the face of a Russian invasion.
Rather than “plans,” these documents, which date back to early March, are more like daily reports and war-related statistics, containing no specific plans for upcoming military operations.
They mention, for example, the rate at which Ukrainian forces use ammunition from Himars mobile rocket launchers, or the weapons delivery schedule, or the training provided by the West to Kiev soldiers. According to these leaks, 12 Ukrainian brigades are being formed, including nine US-trained and equipped.
At least 50 leaked classified documents
One map attempts to assess the dates of the “raspoutitsa”, a period during which, due to melting spring snow, much of the plain is transformed into a sea of mud. The phenomenon especially affects roads that are not paved.
“So, in summary: More than 30 leaked documents were shared on the WowMao Discord server on March 1 and 10 files were (reposted) on a Minecraft Map Discord server on March 2 on March 4,” the Bellingcat journalist wrote. , Aric Toler, on Twitter. “On April 5, 3 of these files were posted on 4chan and 5 (including a doctored document) on Russian Telegram channels.”
“Lucca (the guy who posted them on the WowMao server) found them on *another* server before WowMao. The original public leaking point is somewhere else on Discord,” Toler added. “In summary, I’ve seen 54 documents that Lucca posted on the WowMao Discord channel. There are likely more (I’ve seen some people say ~100 in total). Topics include many Russian/Ukrainian ones, but also some topic summaries. unrelated, like ISIS, China, etc. But the most interesting information is all AU/UK.”
But some documents appear to have been modified to present the situation in a more favorable light for the Russians, particularly by minimizing the extent of their losses. For example, the US estimate of 43,500 Russian military deaths was lowered to 17,500, while the 17,500 Ukrainian deaths became 71,500. Likewise, Russian vehicle losses fell from 6,004 to 600.
According to the New York Times, which was the first news outlet to report on the leaks, the Pentagon is seeking to identify the author.
‘Yes, you can totally remove things from the internet’
“The Department of Defense is actively reviewing the matter,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in an emailed statement. “And has made a formal referral to the Department of Justice for investigation.”
The DoD has also asked Twitter to remove posts containing the documents. But he received a scathing response from Elon Musk, who has owned the platform since last October.
“Yes you can totally remove stuff from the internet that works perfectly and doesn’t draw attention to whatever it is you were trying to hide at all,” the billionaire posted on Twitter on April 6, in response to a post that said that ” The Pentagon is trying to get Twitter to remove posts containing classified documents about the war in Ukraine.”
For his part, Oleksi Danilov, secretary of the Ukrainian national security and defense council, explained to Radio Svoboda that there are “no more than five people on the planet who have information about where, when and how the counteroffensive will unfold.” begin.”
In fact, the leaks come as Ukraine prepares for a major spring offensive against Russia. The United States has just awarded an additional $2.6 billion worth of arms package to Ukraine.
