Irina Pogorelaya09:41, 04/22/23

Journalists of the publication noted that it seems that “the first leak occurred less than 48 hours after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The New York Times has found that the first secret documents about the Russian war against Ukraine began to appear online much earlier than it was thought. The first data was published by Jack Teixera, a figurehead in the Pentagon documents leak case, more than a year ago in a group on the social network Discord.

The publication indicated that an employee of the US Air National Guard began to publish them in February 2022. The publication came to this conclusion based on an investigation into the history of online publications in Discord.

At the same time, according to the official accusation, the authorities suggest that Teixeira began to upload materials labeled “secret” and “top secret” a few months later.

Among the data posted in that group, according to the publication, there are details about Russian and Ukrainian losses, about the work of the Russian special services and data on assistance provided to Ukraine. At the same time, Teixeira claimed that he received the information from classified materials of the NSA and the CIA.

A chain of evidence gathered by the NYT links sensitive messages to Jack Teixeira. The person who declassified the information said that he worked in the intelligence unit of the US Air Force. Details in videos and photos posted by the user matched images posted to Teixeira’s relatives from North Dayton, Massachusetts.

Journalists of the publication noted that it seems that “the first leak occurred less than 48 hours after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

Some of the published intelligence predicted the course of the war. On March 27, 2022, Teixeira posted information about the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv. According to him, he allegedly found this information “on the NSA website.”

“Some important news,” he wrote at the time. “There may be a planned withdrawal of troops west of Kyiv.”

And two days later, the Russian authorities announced the withdrawal of their military from the Kyiv region.

In addition, Teixeira also reported on the priorities of Ukraine and the activities of the Russian special services.

The publication concluded that Teixeira continued to leak classified information until last month.

Leaked secret Pentagon documents

In early April, documents containing secret Pentagon data were “leaked” to the network, including about the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The White House Homeland Security Council  says the documents released online are incomplete images.

A few days later, the FBI arrested Jack Teixeira, an intelligence officer with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, on suspicion of illegal copying and transfer of classified data. 

(C)UNIAN 2023