The Pentagon is investigating a leak of classified war documents detailing US and NATO plans “for building up the Ukrainian military ahead of a planned offensive against Russia” to social media, The New York Times reports.
These documents appeared on Twitter and Telegram this week. They include information on arms supply, number of troops, and other plans.
In particular, there is information about 12 combat brigades, nine of which could be trained and supplied by the US and other NATO allies. According to the documents, six out of nine brigades will be ready by 31 March and the rest by 30 April. Experts estimate that each brigade counts around 4,000-5,000 soldiers. In total, over 250 tanks and 350 mechanised vehicles are needed for these brigades.
At the same time, there is no indication in the documents as to when and how Ukraine plans to start the offensive. Moreover, the majority of information is only relevant as of 1 March.
On the other hand, NYT reports, these classified documents could offer many “clues and insights” to experienced Russian war planners.
“The documents mention, for instance, the expenditure rate of HIMARS. <…> The Pentagon has not said publicly how fast Ukrainian troops are using the HIMARS munitions; the documents do,” NYT writes.
According to military analysts, some parts of the documents have clearly been altered, with American estimates on the number of killed Ukrainian soldiers exaggerated and Russian ones underreported. The experts NYT talked to agree that this could be a disinformation attempt carried out by Moscow.
