Leaked Pentagon documents detailing sensitive information about Ukraine’s preparations for a spring offensive, as well as the state of its air defences, suggest that small contingents of Western special forces may be on the ground in Ukraine, the BBC reports.
According to the leaked document, dated 23 March, the UK maintains a contingent of 50 men in Ukraine, followed by 17 Latvian troops, 15 French, 14 US, and 1 Dutch. The document does not specify where the troops are located or what they are doing in Ukraine.
The veracity of the documents is highly debated. While there is consensus that many of the documents are indeed authentic US Department of Defence leaks, Pentagon officials say that some documents appear to have been “altered.” In particular, one document alleging to accurately detail the number of Ukrainian troops killed in the combat appears to have been doctored.
In response to the leak of alleged classified US information: pic.twitter.com/WWFLOhbeeU
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 11, 2023
The UK Ministry of Defence, in response to the leaks, said that the documents “demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy” and that “readers should be cautious about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation.”
While the number of troops deployed in Ukraine appears to be low, special forces units are highly effective in carrying out dangerous missions, sometimes behind enemy lines. If true, the revelation will likely be a boost to the Kremlin, which has always maintained that it was fighting against NATO forces and not just Ukraine.
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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the Department of Justice has now opened a criminal investigation to determine the source of the leak. “We will continue to investigate and turn over every rock until we find the source and extent of it,” he said. The documents first surfaced on a Minecraft Discord server, spreading to popular image boards such as 4Chan.
