By John Ikani
US officials are currently assessing the potential impact on national security after a leak of highly classified documents, the Pentagon said on Sunday.
The breach, which is being investigated by the Justice Department, reportedly includes assessments and secret intelligence reports related to Ukraine and Russia, as well as sensitive analyses of US allies.
Though the validity of photographed documents circulating online is still under review, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh stated that they “appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material.”
In response to the situation, Singh confirmed that an “interagency effort has been stood up, focused on assessing the impact these photographed documents could have on US national security and on our allies and partners.”
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the issue and has been in contact with the Defense Department.
Over the past few days, dozens of leaked documents and slides have been making their way onto various online platforms, including Twitter, Telegram, and Discord, with new documents continuing to emerge.
While some documents appear to have been manipulated, several are said to be consistent with CIA World Intelligence Review reports, which are typically shared at high levels within the White House, Pentagon, and State Department, according to officials who spoke with the Washington Post.
Defense analysts have raised concerns that a breach of internal classified US documents could be damaging and potentially embarrassing.
In addition, reports suggest that the leak could be valuable to Moscow by exposing the depth of US intelligence penetration into the Russian military apparatus.
The leaked documents also contain apparent information regarding the internal debates of US allies.
For example, The New York Times reported that discussions about South Korea’s deliberation over whether to provide the US with artillery shells for use in Ukraine were among the documents.
