Irina Pogorelaya 08:23, 04/07/23

Analysts told the publication that some of the documents look authentic and can provide the Russian Federation with valuable information.

Classified military documents surfaced on Twitter and Telegram detailing the US and NATO plan to equip the Armed Forces of Ukraine before the upcoming counteroffensive.

This was reported by  The New York Times  (NYT), citing sources in the White House. Currently, the Pentagon is investigating who could be behind the leak of information to the public.

Military analysts have noted that some sections of the documents may have been altered because they overestimate American estimates of Ukrainian military dead and underestimate Russian military dead. Analysts say these changes may point to Kremlin disinformation

The publication noted that representatives of the Joe Biden administration were working to remove the documents from social networks, but as of the evening of April 6, they had not succeeded in doing so.

“We are aware of the social media posts. The Department is looking into the matter,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said.

As the publication clarified, the documents do not contain specific plans for military operations – how, when and where Ukraine intends to launch an offensive. However, they contain data on the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of March 1.

“To the trained eye of a Russian military planner, field general or intelligence analyst, these documents no doubt contain many clues. The documents mention, for example, the HIMARS ammunition consumption rate. The Pentagon has never publicly released these data, but they are in the documents,” writes the publication.

In one of the documents, writes the NYT, it is reported that 16-17.5 thousand Russian servicemen were killed in the war, while Ukraine allegedly lost 71.5 thousand servicemen. The Pentagon estimates that the Russian Federation suffered far greater losses, and that about 200,000 soldiers on each side were killed or wounded.

Analysts told the publication that some of the documents look authentic and can provide the Russian Federation with valuable information about the schedules for the delivery of weapons and troops, the number of formed Ukrainian units and other military details.

The publication stressed that the document marked “top secret” contains information about the “state of the conflict as of March 1.” In another document, the NYT notes, there is information about Ukrainian military units, equipment and the schedule of exercises for January-April.

“The document contains brief information about the 12 combat brigades that are currently being formed, 9 of which are apparently trained and supplied by the US and NATO. Of these 9 brigades, according to the documents, six will be ready by March 31, and the rest by April 30. According to Analysts estimate that the Ukrainian brigade has 4-5 thousand soldiers,” the publication clarified. In addition, the documents say that the total amount of equipment that is needed for the offensive to equip 9 brigades is more than 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles.

“This leak is the first breakthrough of Russian intelligence, which became public knowledge since the beginning of the war,” the publication summed up.

Counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

For some time in the information space, the topic of the counter-step has been discussed. However, the Ministry of Defense was asked not to speculate on this topic, briefly noting that preparations were underway. A few days ago, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke about the counteroffensive and noted that there were still not enough weapons for him.

And yesterday, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that only 3-5 people in the whole world know where and when the expected  Ukrainian counter-offensive will begin .

(C)UNIAN 2023