According to The New York Times, the documents have spread through pro-Russian government channels. The time of the attack is not clear from the documents.
12:11•Updated 13:02
Experts warn that some of the US and NATO documents spread on messaging services may have been tampered with, but they still also provide genuine information.
Secret documents containing information about US and NATO military alliance plans to help Ukraine prepare for its spring offensive against Russia have spread on social media platforms. It was reported on Thursday the American newspaper The New York Times (you will switch to another service).
The US Department of Defense says it is aware of the alleged social media posts and says it is investigating a potential security breach.
The documents have spread on Twitter and Telegram, the latter of which has around half a billion users. Telegram is also widely used in Russia.
According to the newspaper, photos of diagrams containing details of weapon deliveries, battalion strengths and other plans have appeared in the services. At least one document has been marked as top secret.
One of the documents reveals the training schedules of 12 Ukrainian combat brigades. According to experts, there are about 4,000-5,000 soldiers in one Ukrainian brigade.
Of these, nine are said to be receiving training from US and NATO forces, and in addition, they were estimated to need, among other things, more than 250 tanks.
The documents also contain information about the speed at which the Ukrainian forces are using, for example, the ammunition of the American Himars rocket launcher system, which was recently found to be effective. The Pentagon has not publicly opened this.
Some of the documents have obviously been tampered with
However, the leaked documents do not reveal more detailed battle plans, i.e. they do not reveal, for example, how, when or where Ukraine intended to launch its attack. According to The New York Times, US officials believe that the attack could begin in the next month or so.
In addition, the information in the documents is at least five weeks old. The most recent document is dated March 1. Thus, according to the newspaper, they offer at most the point of view of the United States and Ukraine at the time of what the Ukrainian forces could dig for in their attack.
According to The New York Times, the documents have spread through pro-Russian government channels.
Military analysts have estimated that at least some of the documents may have been tampered with afterwards, which could be a sign of Russia’s disinformation campaign. One of the documents states, among other things, that the deaths of Ukrainian troops were significantly inflated and Russian combat losses were underestimated compared to the US Department of Defense’s own estimates.
According to experts, the documents appear to be at least partially authentic and provide Russia with valuable information about the plans.