Washington is trying to assess the risks associated with the leak of classified documents, which relate in particular to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and which could prove valuable for Moscow.
Towards a new international scandal? Ten years after the revelations about spying by the NSA on several European countries, including France, does the United States continue to spy on its allies? This is what the American media suggest after the leak of confidential Pentagon documents revealed last week.
A situation that worries Washington. The fact that these documents are circulating online represents “a very serious risk to national security and has the potential to fuel misinformation”, spokesman for the United States Department of Defense, Chris Meagher, told reporters.
• How could this leak have happened?
Bellingcat specialist media explains that these “Top Secret” documents were published on different social networks, first on Discord, on a channel initially created to talk about the Minecraft video game. They then spread to 4chan, then Twitter, and Telegram.
The origin of the leak has not yet been identified. The posts on Discord are photos of the “Top Secret” documents “surrounded by objects”, the outlet explains. Many of them are no longer available on the sites where they originally appeared. The United States would work to have them removed.
• What do these documents contain?
CNN, who was able to consult 53 of the leaked documents, explains that most of them seem to have been produced between mid-February and March 2023. They contain classified information, of different levels of confidentiality.
Several documents seem to indicate that Washington is spying on its own allies, including Israel and South Korea. And even directly the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Many also relate to the war in Ukraine. One, for example, takes stock of the state of the conflict at the beginning of March, including the amount of Russian and Ukrainian losses, while others evoke the situation on specific fronts, such as Bakhmout.
Nearby Guardiana spokesman for the French Ministry of Defense has denied the presence of French soldiers in Ukraine, while it would have been revealed in the documents which have leaked, explains the British media.
According to CNN, some documents also show how the United States managed to obtain information within the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Wagner organization.
• Are they genuine?
The Pentagon said on Sunday it was working to “evaluate the validity of the photographed documents circulating on social networks”, but acknowledged that they “appear to contain sensitive and highly classified information”, explains AFP.
However, at least one of the documents appears to have been altered to suggest that Ukraine suffered greater losses than Russia, when the supposed original said otherwise.
Several media, including CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times, indicate that US officials claim, on condition of anonymity, that most of the documents are authentic. They correspond to CIA reports circulating at the White House, the Pentagon or even the State Department, says the same source.
• How is Washington reacting?
President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, which appears to be of growing concern to his administration, “late last week,” his spokesman John Kirby said Monday.
The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation while the Department of Defense is assessing the possible consequences for American national security.
US officials have also been in contact with Washington’s allies about the matter, and relevant parliamentary committees have been briefed, the Pentagon said.
• What consequences?
The leaks could endanger US intelligence sources, as well as provide Russia with valuable information on the state of Ukrainian troops. The documents evoking the partner countries of the United States could embarrass Washington, in particular about a possible espionage of close allies.
Because history seems to repeat itself. In 2021, for example, several media revealed the espionage of several European leaders by the NSA between 2012 and 2014.
However, these previous cases are quite different. Because the information revealed in 2023 by this leak of confidential documents is more “fresh” than that revealed by Edward Snowden on the NSA in 2013, for example. It is this “freshness” of “Top Secret” documents that worries Americans and poses a “serious” security risk, analyze it New York Times.
