(TheRedWire.com) – Dozens of Defense Department classified documents appear to have been leaked and posted online on multiple platforms and social media websites. The documents detail information that the U.S. has gathered through spying on Russia’s war machine in Ukraine, as well as secret assessments about Ukraine’s combat power. Intelligence information gathered about some of America’s allies, including South Korea and Israel was also a part of the leaked documents.
NBC News was able to gain access to more than 50 of the leaked documents, many of which had the classification “Top Secret.” The documents were first posted online in March. On Saturday, a senior U.S. government official revealed that their current “working theory” was that the documents were real, while also alleging that some of the documents might have been slightly altered.
While it is not yet clear what the impact of the leak has been, this could potentially be the most serious breach of U.S. intelligence secrets, since 2013, when National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, leaked thousands of classified documents to journalists which detailed information about the U.S. electronic surveillance program. That case included thousands of documents though whereas this case includes only dozens.
More importantly, the documents leaked now included information that had been gathered using secret signals intelligence, or electronic eavesdropping. A former U.S. intelligence official has claimed that should Moscow be able to cut off some of the signals being used then the U.S. might lose access to those sources of information.
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