The Pentagon Leaks: Who leaked the US classified documents and what has been revealed?

The United States, it seems, has a documents problem; another WikiLeaks on its hands, others say. Over the past few days, the US is dealing with the blowback after a large cache of classified Pentagon documents — including maps, charts and photographs — surfaced on the internet.

The leak has led to the Justice Department carrying out an investigation, with Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh saying on Friday, “We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the Department is reviewing the matter.”

We take a closer look at the leak — from what’s been revealed, who’s behind the leak and what happens next.

What leak?

Over the past few weeks, several classified documents, some even marked “top secret”, found their way on the internet. According to a researcher at Bellingcat, the online investigative group, the documents first appeared on the anonymous image board 4chan in March.

Since then, different documents, including maps, photographs and other sensitive data has been revealed on social media platforms such as Telegram and Twitter. A huge part of the documents are pertaining to the state of the Ukraine war, but there’s also information about South Korea’s hesitance to supply ammunition to Ukraine as well as the flourishing of the Wagner mercenary group across the world.

US officials have said that most of the documents that have surfaced online are real, with only some being altered. However, it is still unclear who has doctored the documents or the reason behind it.

The New York Times has reported that most officials believe that there is a strong likelihood that an American official leaked the information. However, investigations are still being carried out on whether it is actually a leak or a hack.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an approximate of 100 documents first appeared on a group on the Discord messaging platform. It reached a larger audience when a user reposted the documents to another group. From there, at least 10 files migrated to a much bigger community focused on the Minecraft computer game.

And last Wednesday, a Russian propaganda account on Telegram posted a crudely doctored version of one of the documents, alongside a few unedited ones.

Also read: One Year of Russia-Ukraine War: Will the conflict end in 2023?

What’s been revealed?

The intelligence leak is shaping up to be one of the most damaging in decades, officials said.

But what exactly has been revealed in the documents? The leaked documents offer a very tantalising and unique view of the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022. The cache of documents reveal that Ukraine is suffering heavy losses in the war, especially in Bakhmut. It also outlines the “critical shortages of air defense munitions”.

The documents also included training schedules of 12 Ukraine combat brigades, revealing that nine of them were being trained by US and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanised vehicles. They also include details of expenditure rates for munitions under Ukraine military control, including the HIMARS rocket systems.

The leaked documents also reveal how deeply Russia’s security and intelligence services have been penetrated by the United States. The documents contain daily real-time warnings to US intelligence agencies on the timing of Moscow’s strikes and even its specific targets. This has enabled Washington to prepare Kyiv for the attacks and its defence.

The leaks also seem to indicate that the United States is also spying on Ukraine’s top military and political leaders. And the spying doesn’t stop there. The leaked documents have also shown that Washington is spying on its allies — something that could hurt US diplomatically.

The leaked documents revealed that South Korea, a key ally of the US, is torn about supplying ammunition to Ukraine. This is because of its official policy of not providing lethal weapons to countries at war.

There’s also documents that reveal that the Mossad — Israel’s foreign intelligence service — had encouraged its staff and citizens to participate in anti-government protests that brought the country to a standstill earlier in March.

The documents also disclose that a hacking group under the guidance of Russia’s Federal Security Service might have compromised a Canadian gas pipeline in February.

The leaked documents also reveal the internal plans of the notorious Wagner mercenary group and also how it’s strengthening its presence across Africa and in Haiti. One of the disclosures is that Wagner sought to purchase arms from Turkey, a NATO ally.

In early February, Wagner personnel “met with Turkish contacts to purchase weapons and equipment from Turkey for Vagner’s efforts in Mali and Ukraine,” one report, as seen by the Washington Post, states, using a variation on the spelling of the group’s name. The report further states that Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goïta, “had confirmed that Mali could acquire weapons from Turkey on Vagner’s behalf.”

Is Russia behind the leak?

It is still unknown who is behind the leak. However, Ukraine was quick to point the finger at Russia, calling it a “Russian information operation”.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram that the leak is a “Russian information operation” and does not reveal Kyiv’s “actual operational plans,” the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

However, some experts don’t agree with this view. One Chinese expert on international security told the Global Times that the “leak is unlikely caused by Russian intelligence agencies, because this does not make sense.”

He said that if Russia had obtained the documents, it would not post them online as it would make Russia lose its source. Moreover, he noted that there is no reason for Moscow to let its enemies know that it has obtained this intelligence, because this will also make its enemies change plans, making the hard-won military intelligence useless.

How did other countries react?

Clearly, the leaks put the US in an awkward position. France, an ally of the US, on Saturday reacted to the leaks — which revealed that French soldiers were in Ukraine. “There are no French forces engaged in operation in Ukraine,” a spokesperson for the minister of the armed forces, Sébastien Lecornu, was quoted as saying. “The documents cited do not come from the French armies. We do not comment on documents whose source is uncertain.”

Even Israel’s Mossad reacted on Sunday, denying the information in the leaked documents, calling it “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.”

South Korea is also unhappy with the leak, with CNN reporting that officials plan to raise the issue with Washington.

With inputs from agencies

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