US national security documents with Ukraine, China secrets turn up in ‘nightmare’ leak

Classified documents that appear to detail US national security secrets relating to Ukraine, the Middle East and China have surfaced online, prompting what an intelligence official called a “nightmare” sequence of events.

latest leak, The New York Times revealed on FridayIt comes shortly after the Pentagon announced earlier in the day that it was investigating photos that allegedly revealed highly classified plans by Ukrainian forces for a spring military offensive.

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The new batch of documents surfaced Friday afternoon on the message board website 4chan, Twitter, Telegram and other websites.

The New York Times reported that the new repository of material also included secret briefing slides on China, the Indo-Pacific military theater, the Middle East and terrorism.

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More content related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also appeared on social media sites on Friday.

According to the New York Times, a newly leaked document is a map purporting to show the location of fierce fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut at present.

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The Post also discovered five new documents posted on the social media platform Telegram purportedly showing Ukrainian air defense positions, numbers of combat equipment and maps of combat positions in Kharkiv and southern Ukraine.

A senior intelligence official told the New York Times that the leak is “a nightmare for the Five Eyes” – the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, which share intelligence.

More than 100 documents have escaped the hands of the intelligence community, according to the report, which quotes an anonymous analyst as describing the documents released this week as potentially “the tip of the iceberg.”

The first batch of sensitive material was posted on Telegram by pro-Russia accounts on Thursday.

According to a review by The Post, at least five photos of printed presentation slides and maps were posted, three of which were labeled “Secret” and one labeled “Top Secret”.

A fourth image shows no visible graded markings.

US officials told The Post Friday that the photos show the actual slide, but some information appears to have been edited.

Kremlin-aligned accounts have varied the estimated casualties in the plans, saying Russia had lost between “16k–17.5k” forces in the conflict so far while “61k–71.5k” Ukrainian troops were in action. were killed in

“We are aware of the reports of social media posts and the department is reviewing the matter,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Friday before the new leaked documents surfaced.

Friday evening, after additional documents emerged, a Pentagon spokeswoman said the matter had been referred to the Justice Department.

“The Department of Defense is actively reviewing the matter, and has made a formal reference to the Department of Justice for investigation,” Singh said.