Gen. Mark Milley speaks at a Pentagon press conference in March.
Celal Gunes/Getty Images
Dozens of secret Pentagon documents were leaked online in recent weeks.
The documents largely pertain to the Ukraine war and reveal how the US spies on allies and adversaries alike.
Ex-military and intelligence officials say the leak is embarrassing to the US and poses a significant national security threat.
Dozens of secret documents from the Pentagon were posted online in recent weeks in what some experts say is one of the most significant intelligence leaks in decades. The classified documents detail the US's intelligence gathering capabilities and expose how the US spies on allies and adversaries alike.
Officials are still trying to wrap their heads around the full scale of the leak. And if it's as serious as recent reporting suggests, then "the impact to relations with foreign partners may be significant," retired US Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan, a former defense attaché to Russia, told Insider.
There are many open questions surrounding the leak, including where it originated from and whether all of the documents that have circulated on various social media platforms are authentic. Many of the documents appear to be intelligence briefing materials on a wide range of subjects, dating back to around early March. They bear classification marks for the Five-Eyes network — the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand — and the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak.
What happened?
Based on recent reports, approximately 100 documents were leaked online. Many of the documents, which largely appear to be from the Pentagon, are labeled "top secret" and a number were seemingly prepared for Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and other senior leaders.
In the past, intelligence leaks have often been made public via a central hub like WikiLeaks or published by major media outlets, but that's not the case here. Photos of the documents — showing them with folds and on top of magazines — were leaked across various online forums, and at least some appear to have been crudely altered.
"We know that some of them have been doctored," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday. "I won't speak to the validity of all the documents, the ones that don't immediately appear to be doctored. We're still working through the validity of all the documents that we know are out there."
Kirby said the Biden administration was still "studying" the veracity and the validity of the documents.
When were the documents leaked and who leaked them?
According to the investigative outlet Bellingcat, the documents date back to early March and were first posted to the gamer messaging platform Discord. But Bellingcat reported that some of the materials date back to January and may have been leaked online earlier. Images of the documents have also been shared on other online platforms, including Twitter, Telegram, and 4chan.
US officials first became aware of the leak on Thursday, after The Times published a story about the documents. Who was behind the leak — and how they had access to the top-secret materials — is not publicly known.
Leaked documents claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to attack Russian troop deployments inside Russia with drones.
Alexey Furman/Getty Images
What's in the documents?
Insider obtained copies of some of the documents that were apparently leaked, which primarily focus on the war in Ukraine but also touch on issues ranging from the recent protests over judicial reform in Israel to Iran's nuclear program.
The documents offer a window into the extent of US intelligence gathering about Russia and the notorious Wagner mercenary group that has been fighting on the Kremlin's behalf in Ukraine.
The contents of the documents raised immediate questions about whether the leak could endanger human sources or prompt Moscow to make changes to its plans vis-a-vis Ukraine that could hinder Washington's ability to gauge its next move. In the past, according to some of the leaked materials, the US was able to successfully warn Ukraine with specifics about impending Russian attacks, per the Washington Post.
Some documents also seemingly show how the US keeps tabs on allies and partners like Ukraine, South Korea, and Israel. One of the documents, reviewed and reported on by CNN, points to US spying on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his desire to use drones to strike Russian troops based in Russia who were likely headed for Ukraine. That could explain, in part, why the US has been reluctant to provide Kyiv with longer-range weapons.
The documents also appear to feature maps that paint a picture of the state of the war in March, while others focus on expected weapons deliveries and estimated casualties.
Ukrainian artillery teams fire toward Russian positions in Bakhmut.
Madeleine Kelly/Getty Images
Some assess Ukraine's combat capabilities after a year of fighting, pointing to looming issues with air defenses and munitions supplies as Kyiv preps for an expected spring counteroffensive that's heavily dependent on slow-to-arrive Western arms. One document appears to detail a plan to persuade Israel into providing lethal aid to Ukraine. Another discusses South Korea's concerns surrounding the US's call for it to provide ammunition to Ukraine.
Some documents appear to feature maps showing Ukraine's air defenses and the locations and combat readiness of its troops — experts say these materials are a huge national security risk and could be a potential windfall for Russia.
"This is not the first time classified documents have been leaked but it is one of the few times in recent history where the documents may have included information about ongoing military operations. That would make this doubly harmful," Ryan said.
That said, Ukrainian officials have expressed skepticism about the validity of the documents.
"The aim of secret data 'leaks' is obvious: divert attention, cast doubts & mutual suspicions, sow discord," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a tweet on Saturday.
How big a deal is the leak?
The Washington Post reported that after the leak first became public knowledge, there was panic among Pentagon officials.
"The Department of Defense continues to review and assess the validity of the photographed documents that are circulating on social media sites and that appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material," the Pentagon said in a statement over the weekend.
The leaked documents pose a "serious risk" to US national security, Chris Meagher, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters on Monday, per the Associated Press.
"We're being very careful and watching where this is being posted and amplified," Meagher added.
Some of the documents leaked appear to have been produced for close US allies that are part of the intelligence alliance known as Five Eyes, shorthanded in the records as FVEY. A senior intelligence official told The Times the leak is a "nightmare" for the Five Eyes.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel on Monday said that the US was "engaging with allies and partners at high levels over this including to reassure them of our commitment to safeguarding intelligence."
It is not unusual for allies to spy on one another, but former military and intelligence officials say that does not make this leak any less embarrassing or consequential for the US. The leak could make allies more wary of sharing intelligence with the US.
"It's bad," Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, who was a CIA officer for 23 years and served in Russia, told Insider. But, for perspective, Mowatt-Larssen also emphasized that this does not appear to be on the same scale as compromising events such as the Edward Snowden leaks. "We're not dealing with an unprecedented problem here in terms of betrayal and compromise," Mowatt-Larssen said.
"I'm not going to say it's not embarrassing and not a problem — of course it is," he added. "And there's always a recalibration after something like this."
