Ukraine has labeled alleged U.S. classified documents on preparations for a counter-offensive as Russian forgeries. They do not represent actual plans, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said Friday. The documents circulating on the internet could still get Kiev into trouble.
“Since the collapse of the USSR, the secret services have deteriorated to the point that they can only redeem themselves with Photoshop and ‘virtual mock spots,'” the Ukrainian politician tweeted Friday, referring to previous cases of Russian espionage being busted. Moscow will soon be able to see the real Ukrainian plans on the ground, Podoljak announced wholeheartedly (see below).
There are documents circulating on the web
The New York Times previously reported on documents stating that Ukraine’s preparations for a counterattack should be completed by April 30. Kiev is said to have supplied up to 60,000 soldiers with more than 250 tanks and more than 350 armored vehicles. The documents were circulated through the social media platforms Twitter and Telegram, particularly by pro-Russian accounts.
However, according to the report, the documents are not complete forgeries, as Podoljak suggests. According to analysts, the documents are five weeks old and the content has been modified in a way that points to a disinformation campaign from Russia. For example, American estimates of the number of Ukrainian war dead were exaggerated, while the figures for Russian troops killed were underestimated.
The US Department of Defense is investigating who was behind the publication, the newspaper writes. Attempts by the US government to have the documents removed have so far been unsuccessful.
Good luck for Russian spies
The documents do not contain concrete battle plans, it said. Still, its publication is an embarrassment to the US secret services: it is the first known case since the beginning of the war in which the Russian secret services succeeded in breaking through American counterintelligence. In any case, military insiders could glean valuable information from it, such as arms delivery schedules or troop strength.
The documents also mention the consumption of HIMARS rocket launchers – the system supplied by the United States to the defenders and used by Ukrainian forces to destroy numerous Russian ammunition dumps from a great distance. So far, the Pentagon has not publicly commented on how soon the HIMARS munitions will be deployed.
Source: Krone
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