U.S. officials believe 'leaked' classified documents about Ukraine war strength may be real

submitted by TheJamesRocket from self.news

U.S. officials believe 'leaked' classified documents about Ukraine war strength may be real

 

U.S. officials think classified U.S. documents about Ukraine's war effort that appeared on-line are likely real and the result of a leak, but that some of the documents may have been altered before they were posted, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.

The official described that as the government's "working theory" pending investigation and review.

The documents, posted in recent days as photos on Twitter and Telegram, outline Ukraine’s military strength, the state of the conflict, casualty figures and the burn rate for the HIMARS long-range rocket systems that the U.S. provided to Ukraine. Some of them carry a March 1 date.

...

Different versions of the documents have appeared online since, citing divergent figures for Russian troop casualties in the war. The varying versions and the fact that the numbers are far below casualty estimates by independent military analysts and the Pentagon have fed speculation that the documents have been altered.

In one version, the number of Russian troops killed in action was put at 16,000 to 17,500, compared to an alleged 71,500 Ukrainian soldiers killed.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Mark Milley, said in November that as of then roughly 100,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in the war, and that Ukraine likely had suffered a similar level of casualties.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/10/leaked-intelligence-ukraine-chilling/

I read this oped recently on the topic. It highlights a couple other points, while warmongering and ignoring the points you've mentioned being covered elsewhere.

It paints the burn rate of rockets, somewhat in the light of the West's lacking supplies to maintain the proxy war. Apparently, the entire West just doesn't have the resources. It also claims that the documents describe desperate efforts to persuade nations such as South Korea and Israel to sell lethal weapons to Ukraine.

To me, it is strange that they are, again, publicly stating their intentions to launch a spring offensive. If they get creamed again, the media will pretend that Russia surged against them and they are the victims, like last time.

Ukraine and their baiting Western allies had been talking of a planned offensive to begin in 2020 for years. Some speculated they wanted to start a year two earlier, but Trump being elected, pushed it back.

In the end, who has higher troop loss numbers are easy to guess, since Ukraine is bombing Eastern Ukraine and mostly their own people, like it has been doing for nearly 10 years without stopping. This war isn't about Russian aggression, it has always been about wiping out Ukrainian's Russian heritage, the portion of the population who reject previous referendum elections orchestrated by foreign entities.