US officials to the "Wall Street Journal": The leak of classified Pentagon documents is likely to harm US security globally

The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that the leak of classified Pentagon documents containing partial details of the war in Ukraine "may affect US national security globally," and the Justice and Defense Departments have opened investigations into these leaks.

The US newspaper added – citing the officials themselves – that the Department of Defense (believes) that the disclosure of highly sensitive information is of concern to the White House, security officials and allies, and the same source pointed out that the countries affected by the leak of classified documents are allies such as Israel, South Korea and Britain.

The leaked documents include intelligence on countries including Israel and Britain, potential vulnerabilities in Ukraine's war, the structure of Ukrainian forces and Kiev's preparation for a counterattack on Russian forces in the spring.

According to the "Wall Street Journal", the leaked documents are two months old, but they may affect the course of the war in Ukraine, and the Pentagon is focusing its attention - according to US officials - on knowing how dozens of highly classified documents were leaked, adding, "We are studying how the breach occurred through a person who has a top-secret security clearance."

Reinforcing details

These documents provide sensitive information about the timeline for the delivery of Western weapons to Ukraine, and the leaks include crucial information about 12 brigades in the Ukrainian army, nine of which are being trained in the United States and other NATO countries, six of which are expected to be ready by the end of March.

Reuters earlier quoted U.S. officials as saying they believed Russia or its loyalists were behind the leak of classified Pentagon documents on social media.

U.S. officials said the documents appeared to have been modified to reduce the number of Russian troops killed and wounded, adding that their assessments were unofficial and not linked to an ongoing investigation into the leak itself.

The New York Times reported that a trove of documents believed to detail U.S. national security secrets had begun appearing on social media.

The newspaper, citing U.S. officials, put the number of documents at more than 100. New York Times sources described the leak as a nightmare for the United States, Britain and Australia, as well as New Zealand and Canada, which share intelligence.

Ukraine Comment

In Ukraine's first official comment on the leaked Pentagon documents, Mikhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the president, said her coverage of the country's preparations for a counterattack was fake and Russian disinformation.

Podolyak described the state of Russia's intelligence services as deteriorating since the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the point where they could only rehabilitate themselves with fake programs and dumps.

The presidential adviser spoke of Moscow's attempt to disrupt Ukraine's counteroffensive and that it would reveal Kiev's plans on the ground.

In terms of developments in the war on the ground, pro-Russian authorities in Crimea (southern Ukraine) said on Saturday that they had shot down a Ukrainian missile targeting a city on the eastern coast of Crimea.

The Russian military website "Rebar" added that the Ukrainian missile attack did not leave any victims, and it is likely that the missile was launched from a missile system in the "Tzli" region, more than 400 km from the Black Sea city of Feodosia.

Russia's TASS news agency quoted Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to Moscow-appointed Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov, as saying the rocket debris landed in a town in Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that there was no alternative to returning Russian-occupied Crimea to Ukraine's control.

Zelenskiy said in a video message released by his office: "The world should know that respect and order will return to international relations only when the Ukrainian flag returns to Crimea."

The Ukrainian president's comments come after his Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva suggested that Kiev cede Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, as part of a peace deal with Moscow.

Evacuation in two governorates

The Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian troops had prepared a survey of the population for possible evacuation from the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia Oblast, and the city of Skadovsk in the Kherson Province, where passports, residence permits and level of education were verified.

The Ukrainian authority added that periodic bus trips are being carried out for those wishing to evacuate, noting that Russian forces are spreading information that starting from the end of April the evacuation will be forced.