The British Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that it had launched an investigation after a member of the public discovered "sensitive" documents, including some concerning, according to the BBC, the recent passage of a Royal Navy ship off the coast of Crimea.

"The Ministry of Defense has been informed (...) of an incident in which sensitive documents relating to the defense were found by a member of the public," said a spokesperson, adding that the loss had been reported by an employee.

"The ministry takes information security extremely seriously and an investigation has been launched," he added.

Documents related to Afghanistan and Crimea 

According to the BBC, these classified documents, some fifty pages in total including emails and PowerPoint presentations, were found Tuesday morning behind a bus stop in Kent (southern England), in a soggy heap. Some spoke of a possible British military presence in Afghanistan after the departure of international forces.

Others concerned the possible reaction of Russia to the passage on Wednesday of a Royal Navy ship, HMS Defender, in the Black Sea, off Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. The Russian army had claimed to have fired warning shots against the British destroyer.

The British government had denied, citing Russian “firing exercises” and “an innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters”.

According to the documents, a possible aggressive response from Russia had been considered.

"As the public would expect, the Defense Ministry plans carefully," which "includes an analysis of all potential factors affecting operational decisions," the spokesperson said of the HMS Defender.

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