The Pentagon is investigating the leak of classified military documents on social media detailing US and NATO plans to bolster Ukraine's armed forces ahead of a planned counteroffensive.
Several similar documents appeared this week on Twitter and Telegram, and they talk about the acquisition of weapons, the number of troops and other plans, writes the New York Times, as reported by the Russian Novaya Gazeta.
Specifically, information was provided on 12 combat brigades, nine of which could be trained and receive weapons from the US and other NATO countries.
The documents state that of these nine brigades, six will be ready by March 31, and the others by April 30. According to experts' estimates, there are about four to five thousand soldiers in each brigade, and they need more than 250 tanks and more than 350 military vehicles in total.
At the same time, the documents do not contain information on how and when Ukraine intends to go on the offensive, while most of the information is current as of March 1.
On the other hand, according to the New York Times, these secret documents can offer "many tantalizing clues and insights" to the experienced Russian military.
"For example, the documents mention the rate of consumption of HIMARS. The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed the rate at which Ukrainian forces use HIMARS ammunition - the documents reveal this," the paper notes.
According to military analysts, some parts of the documents were apparently altered, exaggerating American estimates of the number of dead Ukrainian soldiers and understating the dead Russian troops.
According to experts interviewed by the New York Times, this may indicate an attempt by Moscow to disinformation.
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