Dozens of classified US documents have been leaked and are now circulating on the internet.
Images of the classified files have appeared on messaging app Discord since February.
Complete with timelines and dozens of military acronyms, the documents, some marked “top secret”, paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine and also offer information on China and allies.
Pentagon officials are quoted as saying the documents are real.
Western special forces operating inside Ukraine
One document, dated 23 March, refers to the presence of a small number of Western special forces operating inside Ukraine, without specifying their activities or location. The UK has the largest contingent (50), followed by Latvia (17), France (15), the US (14) and the Netherlands (1).
Other documents say when a dozen new Ukrainian brigades – being prepared for an offensive that could begin within weeks – will be ready. They list, in great detail, the tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces that are being provided by Ukraine’s Western allies.
One map includes a timeline that assesses ground conditions across eastern Ukraine as spring progresses.
According to the Washington Post newspaper, one document from early February expresses misgivings about Ukraine’s chances of success in its forthcoming counteroffensive, saying that problems with generating and sustaining sufficient forces could result in “modest territorial gains”.
Ukraine’s difficulties in maintaining its vital air defences are also analysed, with warnings from late February that Kyiv might run out of critical missiles.
Casualty figures are also listed. One slide refers to as many as 223,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded, and as many as 131,000 Ukrainians.
One presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted: “We need less contemplation on ‘leaks’ and more long-range weapons in order to properly end the war.”
Egypt secretly planned to supply rockets to Russia
The Washington Post obtained access to another document from mid-February, where they found that Egypt had plans to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia in secret.
The Post said President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi told officials to keep production and shipment secret “to avoid problems with the West”.
An official is quoted as saying he would “order his people to work shift work if necessary because it was the least Egypt could do to repay Russia for unspecified help earlier”. It is unclear what the earlier help refers to.
In January, Reuters reported that Russia’s share of Egyptian wheat imports had risen in 2022, offering one possible explanation.
An unnamed official quoted on Egyptian news channels described the allegation in the document as “utterly baseless” and said Cairo did not take sides in the war.
The Kremlin meanwhile described the allegation as “just another canard”.