It is still unclear whether the documents are authentic, the documents on which the BBC relies. The US Department of Defense has previously said other documents in the leak are legitimate. A document in which the number of Russian dead is corrected downwards and the number of Ukrainian soldiers dead upwards was labeled inaccurate by the Americans.
Dozens of western commandos
The document dated March 23 of this year, in the possession of the BBC, shows that fifty British commandos are active in Ukraine. In addition, seventeen Latvian, fifteen French, fourteen American and one Dutch commandos would be present in Ukraine.
BNR requested information from the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The ministry declined to comment on the documents and said it would neither confirm nor deny that Dutch soldiers are active in Ukraine.
Former ground forces commander Mart de Kruif finds the scale of the number of Western commandos startling. “If such a group were to be deployed, it would usually be led by the Americans. So the proportions would be different. This makes me very doubtful.’
“You have to ask yourself, if the Russians have a good intelligence position in the Pentagon, why would they reveal it?”
If the information turns out to be legitimate, the troops would be “active in an advisory role,” says De Kruif. “It’s not about execution, it’s about helping the Ukrainian army plan.”
‘The mole is no longer worth’
Even the former Land Forces commander finds it surprising that Russia has yet to respond to the message. “You have to ask yourself: if the Russians have a good intelligence position at the Pentagon, why would they reveal it? Usually you keep quiet about it, otherwise your mole is useless.’ De Kruif expects the value of the documents to become clear only once the Russian offensive begins. “Only then will we know the veracity of what we are reading now.”
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