Name: US Planning Documents For Ukraine War Allegedly Leaked, Sparking Pentagon Review
Uploaded: 2023-04-08T00:40:53.000Z
Description: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is assessing the possibility of a leak after a set of documents purporting to detail U.S. assessments of the war in Ukraine were recently posted on social media.

Sean Marshall is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, primarily covering business and technology trends. 

Sean Marshall

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the U.S. and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

PenFed Foundation: Empowering Veteran Entrepreneurs

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Ebola Screening in Place at Atlanta Airport

Tom Gantert is a reporter for The Epoch Times.

Tom Gantert

World News

International

Rubio Calls India Key US Partner

Daniel Monaghan is a reporter for NTD News covering culture, social issues, and education. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government.

Daniel Monaghan

White House Week in Review (May 23): Castro Charges, Iran Strike Pause, TrumpRx Expansion

Rachel Acenas is an experienced journalist and TV news reporter and anchor covering breaking stories and contributing original news content for NTD's digital team.

Rachel Acenas

US News

Hegseth to West Point Cadets: ‘We’re Sending You, Perhaps, to War’

Dave Martin is NTD's Senior Sports Reporter and sports analyst. He also hosts "Data Hub" segments during NTD's special election coverage, "The Nation Decides."

Dave Martin

Cavaliers Need Win to Avoid 0–3 Deficit vs. Knicks

Troy Myers is a regional reporter based in St. Augustine, Florida. His background includes breaking, criminal justice, and investigative writing for local news, producing on a national morning newscast in Washington, D.C., and working with an award-winning, weekly investigative news program. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his dog at the beach.

Troy Myers

State News

District of Columbia

Shots Fired Outside White House, Suspect Dead: Secret Service

Middle East

Iran

Trump Says Iran Agreement ‘Largely Negotiated’

David Lam is a national correspondent based in California and a part-time anchor for "NTD Tonight." Before joining NTD he was a financial analyst.

David Lam

Child Safety Groups Urge FTC to Investigate Roblox

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

‘Tiffany Meier Tonight’ Premieres May 26, 8PM ET

Chris Beers is an NTD News anchor and political correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Chris co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Chris Beers

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 24)

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 23)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 22)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 21)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 20)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 19)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 18)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 17)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 16)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 15)

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

California

More Than 17,000 Under Evacuation Orders as Southern California Wildfire Threatens Homes

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Government Sues Chick-fil-A Over Religious Rights

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Haika Mrema

Medical Plane Crash in New Mexico Mountains Kills 4, Sparks Wildfire

Rudy Blalock is a Southern California-based daily news reporter for NTD. Originally from Michigan, he moved to California in 2017 and the sunshine and ocean have kept him here since. In his free time, he may be found underwater scuba diving, on top of a mountain hiking or snowboarding, or at home meditating—which helps fuel his active lifestyle.

Rudy Blalock

Sports News

Kyle Busch, Two-Time NASCAR Champion, Dies at 41

India Responds to Trump’s Repost of Birthright Citizenship Comment

Trump Withdraws National Park Service Nominee

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is assessing the possibility of a leak after a set of documents purporting to detail U.S. assessments of the war in Ukraine were recently posted on social media.

Photos of printed copies of the documents, which bore "secret" and "top secret" stamps, were <a href="https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi/status/1644221448482082816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> online. One document described the various types of military equipment sent to Ukraine by the United States and its allies and partners, along with timelines for training Ukrainian troops to use those weapons systems and notes about a "spring offensive" and a potential date of "30 Apr."

Another document describes casualty assessments and equipment losses on the Ukrainian and Russian sides of the war. One document describes the locations of Ukrainian and Russian forces on the battlefield, while another describes the location of U.S. military units throughout the rest of Europe.

The authenticity of the documents could not immediately be confirmed, but their online appearance has caught the DoD's attention.

“We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the department is reviewing the matter,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
<h2>Potential Intelligence Value</h2>
Several of the potentially leaked military documents include dates, the most recent of which was March 1. The dates for the documents could line up with a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-hosts-war-games-ukraine-ahead-next-phase-russia-conflict-2023-03-02/">military planning</a> session at a U.S. military base in Germany where Ukrainian and U.S. military officials strategized their potential upcoming moves for the war.

Even if the documents are authentic, their actual value could be limited if they reflect information that is now several weeks old.

Although one of the documents appears to describe a timeline for a Ukrainian "spring offensive," the documents don't seem to explain how or where Ukrainian forces may attack. Russian government officials and media sources have <a href="https://tass.com/politics/1601207" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoken openly</a> about the potential for a sizeable Ukrainian counteroffensive as the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have supplied Ukraine with <a href="https://www.ntd.com/2-5-billion-aid-sends-strykers-but-no-tanks-to-ukraine_896169.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">infantry fighting vehicles</a>, <a href="https://www.ntd.com/germany-agrees-to-provide-ukraine-with-advanced-battle-tanks_896632.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tanks,</a> and <a href="https://www.ntd.com/slovakia-joins-poland-in-sending-mig-29-fighter-jets-to-ukraine_907968.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a few MiG-29 fighter jets</a>.

The documents appear to describe the rates at which Ukrainian forces are expending munitions for weapons like the HIMARS rocket artillery system—a detail the U.S. military has not openly disclosed. The timetables for training Ukrainian forces and supplying them with new weapons and ammunition could give Russian military planners some clues about their opponent's ability to fight back.

After months of costly fighting, Russian forces have been making incremental gains in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated that a loss for Ukraine in Bakhmut could cause Ukrainians to lose resolve in the ongoing war and instead make compromises with Russia.

“Our society will feel tired,” Zelenskyy <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-zelenskyy-russia-putin-bakhmut-2334ec3a5b74d3cc3c4e012db71920e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Associated Press last week. “Our society will push me to compromise with them.”

A Ukrainian counteroffensive failure could place further pressure on Zelenskyy.

While the alleged U.S. military documents may provide little to no added value to Russian forces, their potential leak is a cause for concern with military officials. While the DoD has only initiated a review, the incident may prompt a more in-depth investigation to find whether DoD employees are intentionally leaking classified information.
<h2>Documents May Be Altered</h2>
There are some indications the documents are at least partially not authentic.

The document that describes casualty assessments on both sides of the conflict indicates U.S. military assessments of 16,000 to 17,500 Russian troops killed so far in the fighting, compared to 61,000 to 71,500 Ukrainian troop deaths. U.S. military officials have publicly estimated casualties, including troops killed and wounded, are around 200,000 troops for each side of the conflict. In a March 28 hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the Russians "have well over 200,000 casualties" in the war.

Bellingcat analyst Aric Toler <a href="https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1644138707216130050" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> images suggesting that the U.S. military documents were initially leaked last month and have since been altered. Toler shared images that showed the original documents placed the number of Russian troops killed in the war as high as 43,500, rather than 17,500, and Ukrainian soldiers killed in action at 17,500 instead of the 71,500 killed.

Videos

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

U.S. Department of Defense

leaked documents

Management

Russia–Ukraine War

War in Ukraine

Jason Perry is an Army veteran and NTD's National Security Correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Jason primarily covers border security, national defense, foreign wars, and veterans' issues.

Jason Perry

02_Second Lead

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.