Leaking classified US documents, particularly those related to Ukraine, most of which appear authentic, poses a “very serious” risk to US national security, the Pentagon said Monday.
The fact that these documents are circulating on the internet implies “a very serious risk to national security and could potentially lead to disinformation”.Chris Meagher, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, told the ‘media’.
“We are continuing our investigation into how all of this happened and the magnitude of the problem.. Measures have been taken to analyze how this type of information was disseminated and to whom,” he added.
A steady stream of photos and classified documents have been revealed over the past few days via Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other digital means, though some have been circulating online for weeks without attracting media attention.
The Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on their authenticity, assuring that a team from the Department was trying to trace their origins, but acknowledged that the released photos appear to contain sensitive information.
Several “media outlets” have indicated that various North American officials believe that many of the documents are authentic.
“The photos appear to show documents in a similar format to the format used to provide daily updates to our senior officials in Ukraine and Russia-related operations, plus other information updates,” Meagher said, but some “appear to be altered.”
According to Americans one of the documents appears to have been altered to suggest that Ukraine suffered more losses in the battle than Russia, and when the purported original stated otherwise.
The Pentagon had already reported on Sunday that the United States is assessing risks to the country’s security following the disclosure of classified documents, including those related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Pentagon is trying to identify the source of the leak and investigate the validity of the declassified documents.
The documents, released last week by media outlets such as the New York Times, include assessments and reports from US intelligence agencies regarding the war in Ukraine, as well as with US allies.
“A cross-agency collaboration has been initiated to assess the impact [que a fuga] of these documents could affect the security of the country and our allies and partners,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.
The documents, published on social media, could be valuable to Moscow as they reveal the extent to which US secret services have penetrated parts of the Russian military apparatus, according to US media.
The US Justice Department, which opened an investigation on Saturday, is trying to identify the source of the leak and is still investigating the validity of the declassified documents.
For its part, the Washington Post quoted officials as saying some documents appear to be forged. But most are consistent with reports from the CIA (secret services), present in the White House, Pentagon and State Department, the same source said.
Source: DN
