According to one of thousands of papers posted online, the United Kingdom is one of many nations with military special operations operating inside Ukraine.
It verifies what has been widely speculated about for over a year.
The stolen files, some labeled “top secret,” give a thorough picture of Ukraine’s battle, including critical data about the country’s plans for a spring counter-offensive.
The US government claims to be looking into the origins of the leak.
According to the paper, dated March 23, the United Kingdom has the highest presence of special forces in Ukraine (50), followed by Latvia (17), France (15), the United States (14) and the Netherlands (1).
The paper does not specify where the forces are or what they are up to.
Personnel numbers may be minor and will undoubtedly change. However, special forces are, by definition, very effective. Their presence in Ukraine is likely to be used by Moscow, which has recently claimed that it is not just threatening Ukraine, but also Nato.
The UK Ministry of Defence has not responded, as is its customary stance on such things, but in a tweet on Tuesday, it stated the leak of supposed confidential material indicated a “serious level of inaccuracy.”
“Readers should be cautious about taking allegations at face value that have the potential to spread misinformation,” it stated.
It didn’t go into detail or specify which documents it was referring to. According to Pentagon authorities, the documents are authentic.
One document, which documented the number of deaths on both sides in Ukraine, appeared to have been doctored.
The United Kingdom’s special forces are comprised of many specialized military groups with specific areas of specialization, and they are often considered as among the most proficient in the world.
In contrast to other nations, particularly the United States, the British government has a policy of not commenting about its special forces.
The United Kingdom has been vocal in its support for Ukraine, and is the second largest supplier of military aid to Kiev behind the United States.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that the Justice Department had launched a criminal inquiry and that he was committed to uncover the source of the leak.
“We will continue to investigate and turn over every rock until we find the source of this and the extent of it,” he stated.
