Egyptian rockets, the Wagner group in Turkey and the wiretapping of Zelensky – the “Pentagon leaks” reveal a series of American defense secrets. The White House statement is clear: This information should not be in newspapers or on television. It was the New York Times that first reported the leaks; classified documents containing sensitive information from both NATO and the US have been shared on social media – and more classified information is becoming public every day. John Kirby, at the White House, on Monday evening addressed the nation’s news media directly, urging them not to report on the leaks. – Whether what is in the documents is true or not, it has nothing to do with the public. This information should not appear on the front pages of newspapers or on television. It’s not for the public to see and it shouldn’t be out there, says Kirby at a press conference. The leaked documents are said to have been produced from mid-February to early March and were initially spread on the social media channel Discord – but exactly how or why the leaks have occurred is currently unclear. Spokespersons from Discord said on Sunday that they are working together with the authorities to get to the bottom of it all. Below is a selection of some of the most sensational – and widespread – information from the “Pentagon leaks”. The Wagner group in meeting with Turkey The Wagner group has met representatives of Turkey in a secret meeting. According to the leaked documents, the Russian private army met with representatives from the NATO country in the hope of buying weapons, the Washington Post reports. The meeting is said to have taken place at the beginning of February – when the Wagner group is said to have “met with Turkish contacts to buy weapons and equipment” from Turkey to strengthen their positions both in Ukraine and Mali. The leaked documents show that US intelligence had knowledge of the meeting between Russia’s private army and NATO ally Turkey. Ukraine’s air defense soon to run out of ammunition The ammunition for Ukraine’s important air defense system risks running out within a few weeks, reports the New York Times. The information suggests that Ukraine’s stockpile of Soviet-era S-300 and Buk anti-aircraft missiles, Ukraine’s main anti-aircraft weapons, could be completely depleted by mid-April or early May. The document was issued on February 28 and it is unclear whether the assessment has changed. In the event that the stockpile reaches critically low levels, it could, according to Pentagon officials, lead to Vladimir Putin deciding to send Russian fighter and bomber aircraft into the country. The US doubts Ukrainian counter-offensive US intelligence believes it may be difficult for Ukraine to retake Russian-occupied territories in a counter-offensive this spring, The Washington Post reports. According to the assessment, Ukraine has problems accumulating soldiers, ammunition and equipment in sufficient quantity, and a counter-offensive could lead to only “moderate territorial gains”. The United States has held theoretical exercises with Ukrainian military leaders in which the conclusion, according to the documents, was that Ukraine is beginning to understand the limitations of what it can achieve in a counteroffensive. Egypt wanted to give rockets to Russia – secretly Egypt is said to have secretly planned to export around 40,000 rockets to Russia, writes the Washington Post and refers to several leaked documents. It is the country’s president Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi who is said to have ordered the production of the rockets. He is said to have also urged those responsible to keep the whole thing secret in order to “avoid problems with the Western world”. Egypt officially has a neutral position on the war in Ukraine. The US has spied on Zelenskyi According to CNN, which has reviewed 53 of the leaked documents, it appears that the US has spied on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The information should not have come as a surprise, says a source, but should have caused anger in Kiev nonetheless. According to the documents, the United States should have intercepted Zelensky in February when he proposed an attack on a Russian base in the city of Rostov Oblast, in southeastern Russia. On Friday, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the presidential office of Ukraine, stated that there are rumors that the documents circulated are fake. “Moscow is anxious to call off the counteroffensive but will see the real plans on the ground. Soon,” he wrote – thus pointing out Russia as responsible for the leak. A source within the US intelligence service calls the whole thing “a nightmare”. In the player above: Watch John Kirby’s sharp call.
t4-general
The top secrets spilling around the world: This has happened – so far
