War in Ukraine: All about leaked confidential US documents

Tags : Ukraine, Etats-Unis, documents sensibles, documents fuités, Russie,

While the Pentagon believes that the leak of classified documents represents a « very serious risk » for American national security, the country’s press has chosen to reveal the content.

Classified US documents, some top secret, published online after a leak, detail Washington’s views on the war in Ukraine and appear to indicate intelligence gathering on close US allies.

The Pentagon considered that this disclosure of confidential documents represented a “very serious risk” for American national security and the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation.

The authenticity of these photographs, which circulate on various websites, has nevertheless still not been publicly confirmed by the authorities, nor could it be independently established.

Here is an overview based on documents reviewed by AFP.

The balance sheet of the war in Ukraine

One of them takes stock of the conflict in Ukraine on March 1, 2023, i.e. after a little over a year of fighting, and assesses Russian losses between 35,500 and 43,500, against 16,000 to 17,500 for Ukraine.

Moscow would also have lost more than 150 planes and helicopters, against more than 90 for kyiv.

Another version of the document, apparently retouched, asserts on the contrary that the Ukrainian losses would be higher than the Russians, seeming to confirm the fears of the Pentagon that this leak could “potentially fuel disinformation”.

Shortage of anti-aircraft missiles

Two documents dated February 28 detail the worrying state of Ukrainian air defenses, which have so far played a crucial role against Russian strikes, preventing Moscow from taking control of the airspace.

kyiv’s ability to maintain medium-range air defenses to protect the front line « will be reduced to zero by May 23, » it said.

Nearly 90% of Ukraine’s medium- and long-range defenses are said to be made up of Soviet-era SA-11 and SA-10 systems, which could run out of ammunition in late March and early May respectively, says one of the documents.

Drone strikes in Russia considered

According to an undated document, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would have regretted to his top general that the Ukrainian army does not have long-range missiles that would allow enemy forces to be targeted directly in Russian territory , and would have suggested at the end of February to carry out such a strike rather by means of drones.

This information, which seems to indicate Washington’s surveillance of a close partner, could partly explain the reluctance of the United States to provide Kiev with the longer-range weapons it has been asking for, but this American hesitation predates the exchange mentioned.

Demonstrations in Israel

Another undated document claims that leaders of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, have encouraged both agency officials and ordinary citizens to protest against the controversial reform of the judicial system in Israel.

The source of this information — the interception of electronic communications — appears to point to US espionage operations against an allied country.

Concern over South Korean ammunition

South Korea’s national security council fears that the United States will transfer certain ammunition ordered from Seoul to Kiev, which would have gone against South Korea’s will to refrain from supplying equipment lethal to Ukraine, according to a document addressing a March 1 exchange between two South Korean officials.

This revelation, which again seems to suggest that Washington is spying on a close ally, has sparked criticism in South Korea, where the opposition on Wednesday called for an investigation to be opened. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office retorted that the wiretapping charges were « absurd lies ».

The Black Sea monitored

February 27 document discusses Black Sea surveillance flights by US, UK, France and NATO from late September to late February using manned and unmanned aircraft .

About two weeks after this document was written, Washington accused the Russian military of intercepting one of its MQ-9 Reaper drones over the Black Sea and damaging it, which Moscow denied.

Le Soir (Belgium), 04/12/2023

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