The Pentagon investigates the source of the leaks

The classified documents that expose revealing data about the war in Ukraine and that circulated on the Internet since last week could change the course of the conflict, as well as the response of Western countries, according to the US Department of Defense.

The Secretary of Defense of the North American country, Lloyd Austin, promised that the United States will investigate the alleged leak of classified documents until its source is found.

“Now, I can’t say much more while the Justice Department’s investigation is ongoing. But we take this very seriously,” Austin said at a press conference.

The official promised that they will continue to “work closely” with their “outstanding” allies and partners.

“Nothing will prevent us from maintaining the security of the United States,” he concluded.

The documents show US intelligence secrets sensitive to the West and its allies. In them there is information that goes from maps of the Ukrainian air defenses to an analysis of the secret plans of South Korea to deliver 330,000 projectiles to the European country.

All this represents “a very serious risk to national security and can potentially feed disinformation,” according to Chris Meagher, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense.

The documents came to light on the internet in January —as reported by ‘The New York Times’— and had traveled the social networks until Friday, when the leak became known. This is considered the most serious since WikiLeaks published more than 700,000 diplomatic cables in 2013.

The details of the leak are so sensitive that they show how missiles for Ukraine’s air defense systems could supposedly run out between mid-April and early May.

What kind of documents are they?

The classified files have yet to be authenticated by US officials. These show a series of informational slides outlining Ukrainian military positions, international support for Ukraine, and other sensitive topics. For example, under what circumstances Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons.

Until now, the number of documents that were leaked is unknown. But news agencies like the Associated Press and Reuters have reviewed about 50 documents.

What is known about the origin of the leak?

The exact origin of the leak is unknown to the US Secretary of Defense himself.

“They were somewhere on the web, and where exactly, and who had access at the time, we don’t know. We just don’t know,” the defense secretary said.

Austin is the first senior US official to comment on the leak, and only detailed that the Pentagon was aware that documents with dates between February 28 and March 1 had been published, although he said he did not know if there are more with other dates.

“Those are things we’ll find out as we continue to investigate,” Austin added.

The first portal where the documents came to light was Discord, although there is also a trace of them on Telegram and Twitter.

Discord is a popular social media platform among online video game users. The site hosts real-time text, video and voice chats. It was in one of those forums, originally created to discuss various topics, where members discussed the war in Ukraine.

There, an unidentified user shared documents that he claimed were classified. At first he typed them with his own comments and, later, he dared to upload the images of the folded papers.

A member of the forum, who spoke to The Associated Press, said that another participant identified as “Lucca” shared the documents in another Discord chat. Since then, they were disseminated until they were picked up by the media.

Agencies and media have yet to be able to independently verify many details of the story, as have US officials.

What is the impact of the leak?

According to Chris Meagher, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, top military commanders make calls to allied countries to assure them of the US commitment “to safeguard the intelligence and fidelity” of their security partnerships. “Those conversations started over the weekend and are continuing,” he added.

Next week, US officials will travel to Germany, where they will meet with more than 50 nations to coordinate arms support for Ukraine. It is very likely that they would face more uncomfortable questions about the leak.

“I think many of the allies will probably be more curious as to why this happened,” said Chris Skaluba, director of the Atlantic Council’s transatlantic security initiative.

But the phones don’t stop ringing in Washington. This Tuesday, Austin spoke with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, to discuss the leaked documents. Several of these were especially sensitive to Seoulbecause they expose the US surveillance of its ally and detail the supply of ammunition to Ukraine.

Following the call, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement saying that Lee and Austin had agreed that “a significant number of the relevant documents were forged.”

In Israel there is also tension over the content of the documents. As far as that nation is concerned, pressure from the United States is revealed for its ally in the Middle East to send ammunition to Ukraine.

This could potentially affect the relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And it happens at a complex moment due to the escalation of violence in the Middle East and the opposition to the judicial reform of the prime minister.

The United States is investigating

At the Pentagon there is an internal investigation that is led by Milancy D. Harris, assistant assistant secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, according to an AP source.

Thus, offices such as Legislative Affairs, Public Affairs, Politics, Legal Counsel and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are being audited.

The Justice Department is also conducting a criminal investigation into how the texts were obtained and leaked. CIA Director William Burns called the leaks “deeply unfortunate.”

“It’s something the United States government takes extremely seriously,” he concluded.

with PA