According to a Defense Department spokesperson, the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the leak of documents that “appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material.” The Pentagon was also still determining the authenticity of the documents, according to the spokesperson.
Pentagon leaked documents may affect US National Security. (Photo: New Straits Times)
Leaked Pentagon Documents Could Impact The US National Security
“An interagency effort has been established to assess the impact these photographed documents could have on US national security as well as our Allies and partners,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement. “Over the weekend, US officials engaged with Allies and partners, and relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction were informed about the disclosure.”
A U.S. official confirmed on Friday that a “top secret” document outlining the daily positioning of forces in Ukraine had leaked and started appearing on social media.
The representative claimed that the document had apparently been photographed and posted on Telegram before being picked up by Twitter.
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Leaked Pentagon Documents Appeared To Have Been Altered
On Thursday, a number of slides about the conflict in Ukraine were uploaded to Telegram. Although the documents seemed real, some of them, according to U.S. officials, appeared to have been altered. An estimate of 16,000–17,500 Russians killed in combat was shown on one of the slides, but U.S. defense officials have stated publicly that Russia has suffered more than 200,000 casualties.
Additionally, the documents that were posted are older than a month.
On Friday, a number of additional documents that claimed to cover the entire world, not just Ukraine, leaked. According to the New York Times, which broke the news of the leak first, these documents appear to show tensions with South Korea over military aid, the US considering relying on Israel to send lethal aid to Ukraine, and information on the Wagner mercenary group.
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