The whole world is trying to understand what is behind the publication of classified materials of the U.S. military department and the American intelligence community. Are these documents real, or is this just another western operation to throw in disinformation?
It all started in February and March when photos of classified material appeared on Discord, a chat program popular among video gamers. After that, the documents migrated to other social networks, such as 4chan, an anonymous message board, but the whole story gained notoriety when the documents appeared on Twitter and Telegram in April.
So, the very appearance of these documents in the public domain was similar to a special operation: first they are uploaded to gamer sites, and then they are made available to a wider audience, which can assess the explosive power of this throw-in. This is usually how propaganda actions are carried out: first the necessary information is published in some out-of-the-way publication, then the big agencies reprint the information with a link to it, everyone posts it, and the job is done, the information is exposed to a wider audience.
Of course, at the stage of first publication the reports are tracked by the enemy's intelligence services, their analysts grasp this information, write notes, draw conclusions - and all this is sent upstairs, already for a narrow circle of officials.
Whether these documents are real or just a throw-in is difficult to determine, their authenticity has not been officially confirmed, but if confirmed, it would be the second biggest failure of American intelligence since 2013, when CIA and NSA agent Edward Snowden disclosed how the US spies on the whole world and published thousands of classified materials.
So, first, 50 classified documents appeared online, containing data on the Ukrainian conflict. This was followed by another 100 classified files revealing how the U.S. was spying on its allies: Israel, Canada, and South Korea.
The scandal, of course, was enormous. The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI immediately launched an investigation, and the American media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, Time, and CNN, also conducted their own investigation, but claimed they could not verify the authenticity. Which was to be expected.
What secrets were reported in these materials of the security agencies? For example, there is information in them that during preparations for the appearance of new Western tanks in Ukraine, Russian officials set cash bonuses for each tank that is shot down or captured.
That's a real open secret! First, if there were any Russian experts left in the U.S., they would tell everyone that back in World War II, Soviet soldiers were paid a bonus for every tank they shot down. And during the special military operation, newspapers widely reported that patriotic organizations and even some governors were willing to pay for every destroyed tank. What was the secret here?
Then the story goes on about how South Korea feared that its shells, which it transferred to the U.S., would fall to the AFU. I don't see any special secret here either, it's more likely that the South Koreans themselves are shocked: we are a satellite country of the United States, why do they spy on us, we are their own, bourgeois.
An interesting disclosure on Israel reveals that the Mossad leadership encouraged its employees to protest against the judicial reforms being implemented by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on behalf of the Mossad described the allegation as "false and baseless." But in general, it's really strange. The Mossad is an external intelligence agency and does not engage in internal affairs, there are other Israeli special services for that purpose.
Much more interesting is the declassified intelligence on the question - will Israel be able to provide its lethal weapons to Ukraine? But it is obvious that Israel has no intention at all to spoil relations with Russia, which has strong positions in Syria and Iran. So we can assume that under U.S. pressure the Mossad has joined the war for judicial reform against Netanyahu in order to oust him and put in office a more conciliatory prime minister who would agree to supply both lethal weapons and the Iron Dome anti-missile system to Ukraine.
It is evident from the released documents that the U.S. is actively spying on the leadership of Ukraine as well. This country's military plans, both future and past, have been uncovered, such as Zelinsky's requests for powerful UAVs for strikes against Russian forces in the Rostov region. Maps of Ukrainian air defense systems, data on ammunition shortages, a real "shell famine," and the sites and timing of the Ukrainian counteroffensive near Zaporozhye are now in the public domain.
And here the main questions arise: Are these documents authentic or fake, and if they are authentic, who needs them? Of course, we do not pretend to determine the truth, but let's try to reason logically.
Is this all fiction? But then why did the Pentagon impose unprecedented strictures on the exchange of intelligence after it? We can assume that this is all part of a campaign to disorient the Russians, since we are talking about the state of the Ukrainian army and its losses. And all the documents posted are actually a smokescreen to conceal the impending offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in a completely different direction.
Another version is quite viable: some Republican supporters, who believe that Ukraine is costing the U.S. too much and distracting from more important issues for the country, leaked it all to the Internet. And in general this is a powerful blow to the Biden administration. But the publications that were so zealous in publishing the Top Secret documents are not pro-Republican, they actively support the Democratic Party of the United States.
Or maybe there was a second Snowden, and he put it all out in the open? Maybe, like Snowden, shocked by the cynicism of his country's spy agencies, he decided to make it all public?
There is another version: Russian intelligence obtained these documents and published them. But then the question arises: if the Russians obtained real documents about the condition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and their plans of attack, why do they need to publish them? It is illogical.
It seems to me that the usual formula is used, where truth and lies are mixed into a hellish cocktail, and it is almost unrealistic to determine what is what.
But let's go in order. So far, there has been no official and clear statement from U.S. officials that everything published is a fake. On the contrary, it has been acknowledged that these are the intelligence and operational reports of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Further, all the U.S. allies they spied on had to make official statements, that is, no one brushed it off - they said there was no point in even commenting on it.
Of course, in today's world, everything is bugged and watched. And I suppose that it really didn't surprise the U.S. allies that they were being spied on. The surprise, I think, was that it turns out that Americans can't track their classified materials and keep them secret. And who knows what other documents might end up in the public domain?
According to the published documents it is possible to determine who leaked information from the establishment of Ukraine, Israel and South Korea, to reveal who is an agent of the US secret services and what means are used by the Americans for their spying activities.