Secret documents explaining U.S. and NATO efforts to aid the Ukrainian military were posted on social media this week, according to media reports, representing a rare leak of sensitive internal war planning materials at a crucial moment in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
The leak, first reported by The New York Times late Thursday, comes as Ukrainian forces prepare for a high-stakes spring counteroffensive against the invading Russian army. The papers, which were posted to Twitter and Telegram and have since prompted a Pentagon investigation, do not offer specific battle plans for Ukraine’s coming counteroffensive.
But the documents do contain some information that would surely be valuable to Russian commanders. For example, the papers detail the “expenditure rate” of U.S.-supplied artillery systems by the Ukrainian military, The Times reported. Such information would give Russian forces insight into how quickly the Ukrainian military is burning through its resources.
Other documents reportedly include lists of Ukrainian troop units and their training schedules, along with breakdowns of the amount of equipment, vehicles and other items those units will need for counteroffensive operations.
The Defense Department said it is investigating the disclosures.
“We are aware of the reports of social media posts and the department is reviewing the matter,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told The Times.
There are also signs that the documents may have been altered, suggesting that perhaps pro-Russian actors may be behind the leak. For example, one of the papers states that Russia has suffered as few as 16,000 deaths in the war, while more than 71,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed, The Times said.
U.S. and Western estimates put the number of Russian casualties so far in the war at close to 200,000. Throughout the conflict, Moscow has routinely downplayed the number of its soldiers who have been killed or wounded while inflating the number of Ukrainian casualties.
It’s not clear how the document leak could impact Ukrainian counteroffensive plans, if at all. Ukrainian forces are locked in a bitter battle for the strategically vital city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Western intelligence sources say that Russian troops have made modest gains in recent days.
“Russia has made further gains and has now highly likely advanced into the town center, and has seized the west bank of the Bakhmutka River,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a Twitter post on Friday, adding that Ukrainian supply lines are now threatened.
“Russian regular forces, likely including airborne troops, have probably reinforced the area, and Russia is again using artillery more effectively in the sector,” British defense officials said.
