Leaked Ukraine war documents a ‘very serious’ risk to security, US military says
- The defence department is looking closely at ‘how this type of information is distributed and to whom’, after scores of files were made available online
- Since the leak, US officials have been reaching out to allies and partners ‘at high levels’ to reassure them
The online leaks of scores of highly classified documents about the Ukraine war present a “very serious” risk to national security, and senior leaders are quickly taking steps to mitigate the damage, a top Pentagon spokesman said Monday.
Chris Meagher, assistant to the secretary of defence for public affairs, told reporters that Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin first became aware on Thursday that a number of classified briefing slides detailing the US military efforts in the Ukraine war and intelligence involving other nations were leaked.
In the days since Austin was notified, he has reached out to allies, held daily meetings to assess damage and set up a group not only to assess the scope of the information lost but review who has access to those briefings.
The department is looking closely at “how this type of information is distributed and to whom,” Meagher said, but would not say if steps had already been taken to tighten control over who can access it.
At the State Department, spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that US officials “are engaging with allies and partners at high levels over this, including to reassure them of our commitment to safeguarding intelligence and the fidelity of securing our partnerships”.
He and Meagher declined to provide specifics, including about the expanse of the release, how it happened and to which country leaders the US has spoken.