Washington (AFP) Top US diplomat Antony Blinken and defense chief Lloyd Austin spoke with their Ukrainian counterparts on Tuesday as Washington sought to reassure its allies following the leak of highly sensitive documents.
The breach – which has launched a criminal investigation by the Justice Department – included classified information about Ukraine’s fight against invading Russian forces as well as US allies’ secret assessments.
One document reviewed by AFP highlighted US concerns about Ukraine’s ability to continue to defend against Russian attacks, while the Washington Post reported that another expressed doubts about the success of an upcoming offensive by Kiev’s military. Did.
“We have had high-level conversations with allies and partners over the past few days, including reassuring them of our commitment to protecting intelligence,” Blinken said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Blinken said he had spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and “reaffirmed our abiding support for Ukraine and its efforts to defend its territorial integrity, its sovereignty, its independence.”
Austin, speaking with Blinken, said he also spoke with his counterpart in Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov.
“He and the leadership remain focused on the task at hand,” Austin said, noting that “he has a lot of potential that he needs to continue to be successful.”
Ukraine is expected to launch an attack on invading Russian troops in the spring – the first major military offensive of the year.
But a top secret document said tough Russian defenses and “perpetuating Ukrainian deficiencies in training and ammunition supplies would probably impede progress and increase casualties during the offensive,” the Post reported.
A document reviewed by AFP – this one marked “secret” – details the dire state of Ukrainian air defenses, which play a key role in guarding against Russian attacks and Moscow’s military control of the skies. stop doing.
Ukraine’s international backers have worked to strengthen the country’s air defenses, providing a mix of state-of-the-art and legacy technology to create a multi-layered defense that protects against attacks at different altitudes.
Ukrainian soldiers fire on the front line near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, March 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)
But a February 2023 document – the authenticity of which could not be immediately confirmed – said that 89 percent of Ukrainian medium- and high-grade air defenses were made up of SA-10 and SA-11 Soviet-era systems that were soon to be decommissioned. Could have of ammunition.
Based on munitions use at the time, the document estimated that Ukraine’s SA-11s would run out of missiles by the end of March, and its SA-10s by early May.
The document states that Ukraine’s ability to provide medium-range air defense to defend the front line “will be completely undermined by May 23”.
Some documents point to US surveillance of its allies, such as a document that states Leaders of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency advocated domestic opposition against a controversial judicial reform plan – an allegation categorically rejected in Israel.
two israeli officers told Axios On Tuesday, Israel was among the countries contacted by US officials to reassure them about the leaked documents.
The Post reported that another document stated that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the production of 40,000 rockets for shipment to Russia, with officials to keep it secret to “avoid problems with the West”. Said for
In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi visit the missile cruiser Moskva in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)
White House national security spokesman John Kirby contested the report.
“We have no indication that Egypt is providing Russia with lethal weapons,” Kirby told reporters. “Egypt is an important security partner and will remain so.”
Dozens of photos of documents — some of which suggest the US is spying on allies and partners — were found on Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other sites in recent days Although some may be broadcast online. Sometime.
Many of the documents are no longer available at the sites where they first appeared, and the United States is reportedly working to remove them.
The fallout from the apparent leak could be significant – even fatal – potentially jeopardizing US intelligence sources, while giving valuable information to the country’s enemies.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
