In recent decades, Russia’s most successful intelligence operations have been conducted in Photoshop,” Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency, said in a nationally televised interview.
Based on a preliminary analysis of the documents, Ukraine finds false data on losses on both sides. “Some of the information was clearly gleaned from open sources,” Yusov said.
According to Yusov, the needs of the Ukrainian army have been “discussed at all levels” and it is “no secret that Ukraine is asking for planes, tanks, ammunition and more”.
The comments echo earlier statements by Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, who said on his Telegram channel on Friday that he believes the Russians are behind the alleged leak.
Podolyak said the leaked documents were inauthentic, had “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real plans” and were based on “a large amount of fictitious information”.
Russia denies
Russia denies all allegations regarding leaked Pentagon government documents. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the accusation against Russia is based on “a tendency to always blame Russia for everything” and that this fact has become “a common disease”.
The documents mention, among other things, the need for Ukraine to prepare troops for an offensive against Russia. What is striking in the shared documents is that the number of victims has been fixed by both sides. This makes it appear that there were far fewer casualties on the Russian side and far more on the Ukrainian side than in reality. According to BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg, this could indicate that Russia has something to do with the leak.
Ukraine changes plans
Ukraine has now been forced to alter some of its military plans ahead of a much-lauded counteroffensive because of leaked classified US documents, a source close to Ukrainian President Zelensky said.