Three people can talk about the war officially – Deputy Defence Minister about the "data leak"
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar stressed that only three people can officially talk about the plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, commenting on the recent "leak of secret data".
Source: Maliar on the national joint 24/7 newscast
Quote: "Modern warfare is primarily an information war. We must be prepared for the fact that there may be any information stuffing, any information and psychological operations. Any information should be treated critically. Check it, look for the source.
Only official sources can have the only reliable information about the course of hostilities and plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov."
Details: In addition, official sources include the General Staff and the Ministry of Defence, as well as press officers authorised by these institutions.
Maliar added that the plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are kept secret. Therefore, in her opinion, any "leaks" of information are only assumptions.
Background:
- On 6 April, the New York Times reported that classified military documents "detailing secret American and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military ahead of a planned offensive against Russia" have been circulated on Twitter and Telegram.
- Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, called the "merged" materials "photoshop" and he joked about the degradation of Russian intelligence. On condition of anonymity, Reuters’ sources among US officials reported that Russia or pro-Russian elements are behind the leak of several secret US military documents that were posted on social media, and allegedly testified to preparations for the spring counteroffensive to Ukraine.
- Later, a new batch of classified documents that appear to detail American national security secrets regarding Ukraine, the Middle East and China have surfaced on social media sites.
- On 9 April, the US Department of Justice launched an investigation into the leak of a huge number of US intelligence documents that have been published on social media in recent weeks.
- Bellingcat investigators have found that the sensitive US documents focusing on the war in Ukraine, the leak of which has recently been widely publicised, were posted on a WowMao Discord server as early as 1 and 2 March, though they might have first been leaked even earlier.
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