USA: The leak of secret documents is a “serious” risk to its security

The apparent document leak Americans highly sensitive, many of them related to the war in Ukraineit’s a risk “very serious” for the national security of USAHe said Pentagon on Monday.

The leak, which is being investigated by the Justice Department, appears to include secret intelligence assessments and reports affecting not only Ukraine and Russia, but also analysis by US allies.

The documents that circulate on the web suppose “a very serious risk to national security and have the potential to spread disinformation,” Chris Meagher, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters. “We are continuing to investigate how this happened, as well as the extent of the problem. Steps have been taken to take a closer look at how this type of information is distributed and to whomMeagher added.

A steady trickle of dozens of document photos have been found on Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other sites in recent days, though some may have been circulating online for weeks, if not months, before they started getting the spotlight. from the media last week.

Many of them are no longer available on the sites where they first appeared, and it appears the US is still working to remove them. Meagher stated that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was not informed of the matter until the morning of April 6; day a New York Times article about the documents was published.

Many documents are related to Ukraine, such as one providing information on the country’s air defenses or another on international efforts to increase its military forces.

Surveillance on US allies

Others point to US surveillance of its allies, including one claiming that leaders of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency advocated nationwide protests against a controversial judicial reform plan.

US officials have been in contact with Washington’s international allies on the matter, and relevant congressional committees have been briefed, the Pentagon said.

Meagher declined to comment on whether the documents are authentic, saying a Pentagon team is working to make that assessment, but noted that photos circulating online appear to show sensitive information.

“The photos appear to show documents similar in format to those used to provide daily updates to our top brass on Ukraine and Russia-related operations, as well as other intelligence updates,” said but some “They appear to have been altered.”

This includes a document circulating online that appears to have been doctored to show that Ukraine had suffered more casualties than Russia, when the apparent original version stated otherwise.

The consequences of the apparent leak could be significant -even deadly-endangering American intelligence sources while providing valuable information to the country’s enemies.

“The release of sensitive classified material can have tremendous implications not only for our national security, but could lead to loss of life.”Meagher said.

Source: AFP