According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian milbloggers reacted with speculative concern to leaks of classified US and NATO military documents on the Ukraine conflict, indicating ongoing concerns about a future Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“Regardless of the veracity of the allegedly leaked documents, Russian milbloggers’ reaction to the New York Times story underscores fears of potential Ukrainian counter-offensives penetrating Russia’s pro-war information space.”
The New York Times story has thus exposed a significant point of neuralgia in the Russian information space, and reactions to the documents suggest that Russian milbloggers may be reconsidering the validity of their own assessments and speculations about possible Ukrainian counter-offensives, as well as their ability to predict Ukrainian operations.”
ISW also paid attention to Bellingcat analyst Aric Toler’s testimony, which stated that the documents were circulating online as early as March 4, and it is unclear why these documents reached mainstream Western media more than a month later.
According to the New York Times, “secret American and NATO plans to build up Ukraine’s military ahead of a planned offensive against Russia” were circulated on Twitter and Telegram.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the President’s Office chief, said the “leaked” materials were “photoshopped” and joked about Russian intelligence deterioration.
Anonymous According to US officials, Russia or pro-Russian elements were behind the social media leak of several top-secret American military documents.
