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Pentagon and US Justice Department investigating apparent leak of classified documents about Ukraine

08 April 2023 19:50 (UTC +04:00)

Both the Pentagon and US Department of Justice are investigating leaks of a trove of apparent US intelligence documents that were posted on social media in recent weeks, APA reports citing CNN.

The investigation comes as new documents surfaced Friday covering everything from US support for Ukraine to information about key US allies, widening the fallout from an already alarming leak. The Pentagon said Thursday it was looking into the matter as reports emerged.

The additional leaked documents that open-source intelligence researchers surfaced Friday appear to have been posted online in the past few weeks. The documents appear to contain classified information on a range of topics, including:

The mercenary Wagner Group’s operations in Africa

Israel’s pathways to providing lethal aid to Ukraine

Intelligence about the United Arab Emirates’ ties to Russia

South Korean concerns about providing ammunition to the US for use in Ukraine

CNN could not independently verify whether the documents had been altered. But they are similar to a tranche of classified documents about Ukraine that have been circulating online in recent weeks, which US officials on Friday morning confirmed to CNN to be authentic.

Much like those documents, Friday’s discoveries were photos of printed-out, wrinkled documents. All bore classified markings, some top secret – the highest level of classification. They also all appear to have been produced between mid-February and early March.

It is unclear who is behind the leaks and where, exactly, they originated.

“The Department of Defense is actively reviewing the matter, and has made a formal referral to the Department of Justice for investigation,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said Friday.

A Justice Department spokesperson told CNN the department has “been in communication with the Department of Defense related to this matter and have begun an investigation,” declining to comment further.

Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on his Telegram channel he believes Russia is behind the purported leak.