The more than 300 documents that have been spread online have been called “one of the most damaging intelligence leaks of this century”.
Many of the documents are top secret and concern intelligence about the Ukraine war and information about how the US spied on its allies.
Shared secret documents on Discord
The American newspaper Washington Post claims to have found the leak. He is said to have been active on the game-oriented platform Discord. There he was a kind of leader on a private server with a couple of dozen members – and he was called OG.
The server went by the name “Thug Shaker Central” and has previously been identified as the original source of the leak.
The Washington Post has spoken to several of the members who describe how OG operated within the group – and how he shared more and more classified documents over time. At first he is said to have written off the content, but gradually he started posting pictures of the material instead.
“Knew what he did”
One of the members the newspaper spoke to does not want to describe him as a whistleblower, but at the same time emphasizes that the leaks were not made by accident.
– He is a smart person. He clearly knew what he was doing when he posted these documents, the person told the Washington Post.
OG is described as a young man interested in weapons and is said to have hinted that he came into contact with classified documents in his work.
US authorities are investigating the leak, but the members of the group are said to have been in contact with OG as recently as a couple of days ago.
Step by step – that’s how the leak spread