U.S. officials are making significant efforts to identify the source of a leak involving highly classified military and intelligence documents that have spread online, detailing aspects of Ukraine's air defenses and the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad).
Western security experts and U.S. officials suspect that an individual from the United States might be behind the leak. The wide range of topics covered in the documents, which address the war in Ukraine, China, the Middle East, and Africa, suggests that they were leaked by an American citizen rather than an ally. In an interview with Reuters, Michael Mulroy, a former senior official at the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon), stated, "The focus now is on this leak coming from the United States because many of these documents were only in U.S. possession."
U.S. officials indicated that the investigation is in its early stages and have not ruled out the possibility that pro-Russian elements may be responsible for the leak, which is regarded as the most significant security breach since the WikiLeaks disclosures in 2013, which included over 700,000 documents, videos, and diplomatic cables.
Following the leak, Reuters reviewed more than 50 documents marked "Secret" and "Top Secret," which first appeared last month on social media platforms, beginning with Discord and 4chan. Although some of these documents were published weeks ago, The New York Times was the first to report on them last Friday.
Reuters has not independently verified the authenticity of these documents, some of which contain estimates of battlefield losses in Ukraine but appear to have been altered to minimize Russian casualties. It is also unclear why at least one of these documents was labeled "Unclassified" despite containing highly sensitive information. Some documents were marked "No Foreign," meaning they cannot be shared with foreign entities.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday that they do not rule out the possibility that the documents may have been manipulated to mislead investigators about their source or to disseminate false information that could harm U.S. security interests.
One document dated February 23 and marked "Secret" details how Ukrainian S-300 air defense systems would be depleted by May 2 based on their current usage rates. Such heavily guarded information could be of significant value to Russian forces, and Ukraine stated that its president and top security officials met on Friday to discuss ways to prevent these leaks.
Another document, bearing the label "Top Secret" and derived from a CIA report dated March 1, claims that the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) supported protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to tighten control over the Supreme Court. The document indicates that the U.S. learned of this through intelligence signals, suggesting that Washington was spying on one of its key allies in the Middle East. In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Sunday saying that the document is "false and completely unfounded."
Another document offers details regarding private discussions among senior South Korean officials about U.S. pressure on the Asian ally to assist in supplying weapons to Ukraine, contrary to Seoul's policy of non-involvement. A South Korean presidential official stated on Sunday that the country is aware of the media reports related to the leaked documents and intends to discuss the issues raised by the leaks with the United States.
The Pentagon has not commented on the contents of these documents, which apparently included monitoring of allies. Two U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, indicated that while there is concern regarding the leaked documents within the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, the documents only provide a partial glimpse of the situation in Ukraine from a month ago and do not include more recent assessments. The officials added that intelligence and military agencies are reviewing their operations to determine the extent of internal information sharing.
The White House has referred the matter to the Pentagon, which confirmed on Sunday that it is under examination and officially referred the issue to the Department of Justice, requesting an investigation. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that it is in contact with the Pentagon and has initiated an investigation into the document leak without providing additional details.
Officials are examining the motives that could drive an American official or multiple officials to leak such sensitive information. One official stated that investigators have explored four or five possibilities, including the notion that the person who published these documents may be a disgruntled employee or an insider seeking to harm U.S. national security interests.
