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What do the leaked US documents say? Washington, April 12 (AFP) Apr 12, 2023 A trove of highly sensitive US government documents circulating online includes secret assessments of the Ukraine conflict as well as analyses that point to surveillance of close American allies. The Pentagon says the breach poses a "very serious risk to national security," and the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the matter. US officials have not however publicly confirmed that the materials shown in photographs posted on social media and other sites are genuine, and their authenticity could not immediately be independently verified. These are some key points from documents reviewed by AFP:
Russia also lost more than 150 planes and helicopters, while Ukraine lost more than 90 aircraft. Another version of the document -- which was apparently digitally modified -- said Ukrainian losses of troops and equipment were higher than Russia's. The Pentagon has warned that the documents "have the potential to spread disinformation."
Ukraine's ability to provide medium-range air defenses to protect the front line "will be completely reduced by May 23," the two documents say. One of them notes that SA-10 and SA-11 Soviet-era systems make up nearly 90 percent of Ukrainian medium and high-range protection and says that -- based on munitions use at the time -- they were projected to run out of missiles by early May and late March, respectively.
The account -- which points to American surveillance of a close partner -- may help explain US reluctance to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons it has sought, though Kyiv appears to have carried out such strikes with other means, and Washington's hesitation predates the exchange mentioned in the document.
The document attributed the information to intercepted electronic signals, indicating US spying on an allied country.
That would have violated South Korea's policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine, whose forces have faced a critical shortage of artillery ammunition. Like previous documents, this one points to American surveillance of a country with which it has close ties. The revelation sparked criticism in South Korea about the vulnerability of sensitive locations, but President Yoon Suk Yeol's office has pushed back, saying it had "iron-clad security" and that allegations of eavesdropping were "senseless lies." The country's opposition on Wednesday urged the government to investigate the apparent espionage.
Roughly two weeks after the date of the document, Washington said a Russian Su-27 jet struck a US MQ-9, requiring the drone to be brought down in the Black Sea. Moscow denied responsibility.
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