US officials are scrambling to identify the source of a significant leak of highly classified military and intelligence documents that appeared online, covering a wide range of topics from Ukraine's air defenses to Israel's Mossad spy agency. Western security experts and US officials suspect that the source of the leak could be someone within the United States.
The scope of the documents, addressing issues in Ukraine, China, the Middle East, and Africa, implies that they may have been leaked by an American rather than an ally. Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, told Reuters, "The focus now is on this being a US leak, as many of the documents were only in US hands."
While the investigation is still in its early stages, officials have not eliminated the possibility that pro-Russian elements were responsible for the leak. This breach is considered one of the most severe security lapses since WikiLeaks published over 700,000 documents, videos, and diplomatic cables in 2013. Neither the Russian embassy in Washington nor the Kremlin responded to requests for comment.
More than 50 documents labeled "Secret" and "Top Secret" first appeared on social media websites such as Discord and 4Chan last month. Their existence was first reported by the New York Times on Friday. The authenticity of these documents has not been independently verified by Reuters. Some of the documents appear to have been altered to minimize Russian losses in Ukraine, and it is unclear why at least one document is marked unclassified yet contains top-secret information. Certain documents are marked "NOFORN," indicating that they cannot be released to foreign nationals.
Two US officials stated that they have not ruled out the possibility that the documents were doctored to mislead investigators about their origin or to spread false information that could harm US security interests. The Pentagon is currently reviewing the validity of the photographed documents, which "appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material." The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into the matter.
The leaked documents include closely guarded information that could benefit Russian forces, such as detailed assessments of Ukraine's S-300 air defense systems. Other documents reveal internal discussions among senior South Korean officials about US pressure on Seoul to help supply weapons to Ukraine, as well as CIA intel on Israel's Mossad intelligence agency encouraging protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court.
As the investigation continues, officials are considering various motivations for the leak, from a disgruntled employee to an insider threat actively seeking to undermine US national security interests. The military and intelligence agencies are also reviewing their internal processes for sharing intelligence.
