US 'classified document' leak origin: A major leak of classified US documents that have shaken Washington and exposed new details of its intelligence gathering may have started in a chatroom on a social media platform popular with gamers. Besides, according to an analysis seen by a US news agency, it claimed that the documents detailed what might happen in the Russia-Ukraine war in certain “wild card” scenarios.
Held on the Discord platform, which hosts real-time voice, video and text chats, a discussion originally created to talk about a range of topics turned to the war in Ukraine.
As part of debates about Ukraine, according to one member of the chat, an unidentified poster shared documents that were allegedly classified, first typing them out with the poster’s own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, beginning to post images of papers with folds in them.
The posts appear to have gone unnoticed outside of the chat until a few weeks ago when they began to circulate more widely on social media and get picked up by major news outlets. The leaks have alarmed US officials and sparked a Justice Department investigation.
"If Zelenskyy, Putin were to die"
In a surprising detail accessed by the Associated Press, it reported that the documents included an analysis of what might happen in the Russia-Ukraine war in certain “wild card” scenarios, including if Russian President Vladimir Putin or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were to die.
The analysis is marked secret, a lower level of classification than top-secret.
Were Putin to fire his top military advisers and the war to escalate, the document speculates he might authorize the use of tactical nuclear weapons if “elites question Putin’s decision-making and Russian forces are unable to overcome manning and equipment shortfalls.”
The death of Zelenskyy, in a worst-case scenario, might prompt Europe to restrict weapons shipments, the document says. But a “high-profile Ukrainian leader” might also retain domestic and foreign support as well, it says.
US begins high-level probe
It is worth mentioning the United States Justice Department has initiated a high-level probe into the leak of alleged "classified documents", wherein it was claimed the documents contained crucial information related to NATO and the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to the statement released by the Defence Ministry, the documents were morphed and were meant to spread misinformation. The documents, which were posted on sites such as Twitter, are labelled secret and resemble routine updates that the U. military’s Joint Staff would produce daily but not distribute publicly.
They are dated ranging from Feb. 23 to March 1, and provide what appears to be details on the progress of weapons and equipment going into Ukraine with more precise timelines and amounts than the US generally provides publicly.
(With inputs from AP)
