Highly classified Pentagon documents leaked and recently posted to social media, offer a pessimistic US view of Ukraine or Russia winning the war.
The documents which came to the limelight this week, highlight flaws in Ukraine’s weaponry and air defenses and predict a stalemate in the war for months to come.
The documents, which appear to date from February and March, detail many of Ukraine’s military shortfalls as Kyiv prepares for a spring counteroffensive against Russia.
Several of the classified documents warn that Ukraine’s medium-range air defenses to protect front-line troops will be “completely reduced by May 23,” suggesting Russia could soon have aerial superiority over Ukraine and Ukraine could lose the ability to amass ground forces in a counteroffensive.
The documents also underscore lingering problems with Russia’s own military offensive, predicting that the result will be a stalemate between the two sides for the foreseeable future.
Security Officials in the US say the documents appear to be part of a daily intelligence briefing deck prepared for the Pentagon’s senior leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, according to CNN.
The leaking of the documents many of which are marked top secret represents a major national security breach, and the Justice Department on Monday, April 10 launched a criminal investigation into who may have leaked them while the Pentagon is investigating how the leak impacts US national security.
In addition to the assessment of the Ukraine war, the documents include intelligence gathered on allies and adversaries alike.
Some of the information in the highly classified leaked Pentagon documents was “not secret at all,” according to Oleksii Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security Council. “You can find it in publicly available sources,“ Danilov told journalist, Vassili Golod, of German broadcaster ARD, in an interview on Sunday. Ukraine is in constant contact with its key allies, such as the US, the UK, Germany and Poland, according to Danilov.