(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Last night in comments, which I did read when I got up this AM just like I do everyday in case I can’t hang out after I publish the update, there was some questions and discussion regarding the NY Times‘ reporting about leaked US-NATO plans. Here’s The Kyiv Independent‘s reporting on that story: (emphasis mine)
Secret American and NATO plans for supplying aid to Ukraine ahead of its expected upcoming offensive were posted on social media earlier this week, prompting an investigation by the Pentagon, senior Biden administration officials told the New York Times.
The plans were posted to the social media networks Twitter and Telegram, and the Pentagon is investigating who may have leaked the documents, according to the NYT.
The documents do not reveal details of when, how, or where Ukraine intends to launch its counteroffensive and are five weeks old. According to military analysts with whom the NYT spoke, the documents were likely modified from their original format, understating the casualties on the Russian side and overstating those on the Ukrainian side.
The analysts told the NYT that the changes made to the document could be part of a Russian disinformation campaign to distort facts about the war in Ukraine. Nonetheless, the leak is a “significant breach of American intelligence in the effort to aid Ukraine,” the NYT wrote.
Biden officials told the newspaper that attempts to get the information deleted from social media had not yet proved successful.
“We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the department is reviewing the matter,” said Sabrina Singh, the NYT quoted the deputy press secretary at the Pentagon as saying.
Leaving aside the altered KIA figures, even if the leaked plans are genuine, I’m not sure what leaking them gives away. It is not exactly a state secret anywhere that the US, our NATO, and our non-NATO allies are providing significant military and financial aid to Ukraine for its defense against Russia’s genocidal re-invasion. Or that such aid is coordinated and planned. It is not exactly news that specific weapons systems or munitions have been requested by Ukraine and that the official position of the Biden administration has been some combination of yes here you go, we’ll consider it, but we don’t think it would be useful, or not right now, but maybe in the future. Nor that some of our allies are advocating for more and faster and others are like “whatever the US does, we’ll go along with”, etc. And given the fact that once the decisions are made DOD officials or our partners MOD officials actually announce them, give reporters readouts with lists, do Q&A with reporters answering questions regarding what is being given and why, eventually what is being given is officially made public. We know the KIA details have been altered. I expect significant other portions will have been as well. Given the Starlink Snowflake’s fragile ego and general inability for rational decision making even when it would be in his own best interest, I doubt the Biden administration will be able to get it off of Twitter. I have no idea if it is even possible to get something taken off of Telegram.
If you were wondering what they looked like, The Wall Street Journal‘s Yaroslav Trofimov has the details:
Of course there is no way of knowing whether the earlier images are genuine.
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) April 7, 2023
Here’s President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
War for Ukraine Day 408: A Brief Friday Night UpdatePost + Comments (50)