Ministry of Defence says leak which claims UK particular forces have been working in Ukraine has ‘a severe stage of inaccuracy’

The Ministry of Defence says there’s “a serious level of inaccuracy” in leaks which declare UK particular forces have been working in Ukraine.

The claims have been broadly reported after US categorized navy paperwork have been allegedly leaked and revealed on-line.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson has warned in opposition to taking allegations contained in the reported leak at “face value”.

A spokesperson mentioned in a message posted on Twitter: “The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy.

“Readers ought to be cautious about taking at face worth allegations which have the potential to unfold disinformation.”

Media shops have reported {that a} doc, dated 23 March, signifies as many as 50 UK particular forces personnel have been deployed to the nation alongside different western particular forces.

But the doc reportedly doesn’t state the place the allegedly deployed forces are situated or what they’re doing.

Chris Meagher, a spokesman for the Pentagon, has urged warning in “promoting or amplifying any of these documents”, including that “it does appear that slides have been doctored”.

The paperwork could first have been revealed in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform fashionable with players, Associated Press reported.

An unidentified chatroom consumer shared paperwork that have been allegedly categorized, first typing them out with their very own ideas, then, as of some months in the past, starting to publish photos of papers with folds in them.

The posts seem to have gone unnoticed outdoors of the chat till just a few weeks in the past, once they started to flow into extra broadly on social media.

Many particulars shared by the particular person haven’t been independently verified and the unique chatroom has been deleted.

Asked on Monday if the US authorities was successfully ready for extra intelligence paperwork to point out up on-line, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby replied: “The truth and the honest answer to your question is: We don’t know. And is that a matter of concern to us? You’re darn right it is.”

It comes after the US defence division started investigating who’s chargeable for the possibly damaging leak.

Read extra:
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The New York Times, which first reported the breach, quoted navy analysts as saying the recordsdata seem to have been modified in sure elements, which may level to an try by Moscow to unfold disinformation.

Wall Street Journal correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov mentioned Russian propaganda channels appeared to have photoshopped no less than one of many paperwork after the unique ones have been posted.

Mr Trofimov famous how there was instantly a big improve within the variety of Ukrainian casualties and gear losses recorded and an enormous lower within the Russian battle harm.

Ukrainian presidential official, Mykhailo Podolyak, mentioned the leak regarded like a Russian disinformation operation, saying that it contained a “very large amount of fictitious information”.

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The act of stealing secret paperwork and leaking them both with or with out modifications is a long-standing weapon of knowledge warfare designed to undermine an opponent.

It would profit Russia for details about Ukraine’s battle plans and Western help to be leaked on-line.

The categorized recordsdata – together with one marked “top secret” and one other marked “secret” – are dated from late February and early March.

They don’t reveal particular dates or particulars about Ukraine’s anticipated spring offensive within the east and south of the nation.

But they do provide clues concerning the form of navy formations that Western allies are serving to their Ukrainian companions construct up.

The New York Times mentioned US officers have been attempting to have the recordsdata taken down off the social media websites.

However, as of final Friday morning, variations of the leaks have been nonetheless being broadly shared.