Moscow: The leak of a trove of highly sensitive documents online could be a move by the United States to “deceive” Russia, its deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying Wednesday (pic).
“It’s probably interesting for someone to look at these documents, if they really are documents or they could be a fake or it could be an intentional leak,” Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies.
“Since the US is a party to the (Ukraine) conflict and is essentially waging a hybrid war against us, it is possible that such techniques are being used to deceive their opponent, the Russian Federation,” he said.
The breach—which has sparked a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice—includes classified information about Ukraine’s fight against Russian forces, as well as secret assessments of US allies.
A document reviewed by AFP highlighted US concerns about Ukraine’s capacity to keep defending against Russian strikes, while the Washington Post reported that another expressed doubts about the success of an upcoming offensive by Kyiv’s forces.
The Guardian newspaper said that in one document US officials estimated that there were 97 special forces members from NATO countries active in Ukraine at one point, including 50 British troops.
Dozens of photographs of documents—some of which also point to US spying on allies and partners including Israel, South Korea and Ukraine—have been found on Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other sites in recent days, though some may have been circulating online for some time.
Many of the documents are no longer available on the sites where they first appeared, and Washington is reportedly working to have them removed.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has cast doubt on reports that UK special forces have operated in Ukraine, after the allegations emerged from a leaked trove of highly sensitive US documents.
The Guardian and other media outlets said the leaked military and intelligence files suggest that dozens of British special forces personnel have been present in Ukraine so far this year.
The British Embassy in Kyiv said in June 2021 that UK and US special forces were holding “joint training activity” with their Ukrainian counterparts.
But London has not disclosed their continued presence inside the country since Russia’s invasion in February last year.
“The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy,” the UK’s MoD said in a statement posted Wednesday on Twitter.
“Readers should be cautious about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation.”
In Seoul, South Korea’s opposition urged the government to investigate alleged espionage by the United States.
A trove of highly sensitive US intelligence that has emerged online included revelations that Washington had been spying on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s
national security advisors as part of an effort to secure arms supplies for Ukraine.
Seoul sought to downplay the importance of the leaked documents on Tuesday, with Yoon’s office claiming “a significant number” of the documents were fake and his national security advisor saying there were no “malicious intentions” in the incident.
But the revelation has sparked criticism in South Korea about the vulnerability of sensitive sites including the presidential office.
“The government must get to the bottom of eavesdropping allegations and if they are found to be true, it must get an official apology and guarantee that it won’t do it again from the US,” Lee Jae-myung, head of the opposition Democratic party, said on Wednesday.
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