The online leaks of dozens of highly classified documents about Ukraine posed a very serious risk to national security, and senior leaders are taking swift steps to contain the damage, a top Pentagon spokesman said Monday. sending shockwaves through the US government, the White House said there are concerns there could be more leaks.

Chris Meagher, assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs, told reporters that defense secretary Lloyd

J

Austin

III

became aware for the first time

on

On Thursday, a number of classified briefing slides leaked about US military efforts in the war in Ukraine and intelligence involving other countries.

In the days since contacting allies, Austin has held daily meetings to assess the damage and set up a group not only to assess the extent of information lost, but also to assess who has access to that information. briefings. The department is looking closely at how this type of information is distributed and to whom, Meagher said, but would not say whether steps have already been taken to tighten control over who has access to it.

At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked if the US was bracing for more online releases.

‘More comfortable than a Rolls-Royce’: Ukrainian tank drivers eagerly await western rides

The truth and the honest answer to your question is: we don’t know,” he said. “And is that a concern for us? You’re damn right.

Kirby said at the time, we don’t know who’s behind this, we don’t know what the motive is.

And he said that while US authorities are reviewing the documents posted online, they are still trying to determine their validity, but have found that at least some of the papers have been “manipulated”.

He and others would not go into details, but at least one of the documents shows estimates of the deaths of Russian troops in Ukraine that are significantly lower than the figures made public by US officials. Under a section titled Total Assessed Losses, one document lists 16,000

– Unpleasant

17,500 Russian casualties and up to 71,000 Ukrainian casualties. General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said publicly last November that Russia has lost more than 100,000 soldiers, and Ukraine has lost about that much. And those estimates have continued to rise in recent months, though officials have stopped providing more exact numbers.

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters Monday that U.S. officials are discussing this with high-level allies and partners, including to reassure them of our commitment to protecting intelligence and the fidelity of securing our partnerships.

Ukraine and Russia send about 200 troops home in prisoner exchange

The US officials declined to provide details, including the extent of the release, how it happened and which country leaders the US has spoken to. Patel added that there is no doubt about the present release of the documents

S

a risk to national security.

Researchers specializing in social media monitoring, including at the journalistic organization Bellingcat, say the documents may have been circulating in private Internet chats on the Discord discussion platform for months. Asked if the Pentagon has contacted Discord, Meagher referred questions to the Justice Department, which has opened a criminal investigation into the leaks.

The slides, which were eventually circulated on more mainstream sites like Twitter, detail US training and equipment schedules to support Ukraine, loss assessments, what the US is watching about key allies and strategic partners, and which ones steps Russia may undermine. those relationships.

While the Pentagon has ensured that the information in a specific document is not authentic, overall they pose “a very serious risk to national security and have the potential to spread disinformation,” Meagher said. placed and enlarged.

The documents have been labeled secret and top secret and, in some cases, resemble routine updates that the Joint Staff of the United States Army would produce on a daily basis but would not publicly distribute.

Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Matthew Lee and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.