Ukraine war: In Kyiv, top officials shrug off US documents leak

Ukraine is beforehand and centre of a fig of classified Pentagon documents which a 21-year-old US National Guard airman is suspected of leaking online.

The leaks see details astir the West's subject assistance to Ukraine, specified arsenic weapons deliveries and training, and possibly much revealing, dire assessments of the warfare by US officials, making nationalist concerns that for immoderate clip had been discussed successful private.

The timing of the leaks is delicate for Kyiv. The subject is expected to motorboat a counter-offensive wrong weeks, successful what is apt to beryllium a important signifier successful the astir 14-month-long warfare that is believed to person killed tens of thousands of people. Such is the anxiousness present that, past month, the defence ministry urged radical to halt discussing imaginable plans.

One leaked document, quoted by the Washington Post, said the Ukrainian service faced challenges successful massing troops, instrumentality and ammunition, and could autumn good abbreviated of its archetypal goals for an expected counter-offensive. The papers warned that lone humble territorial gains could beryllium achieved successful Russian-occupied areas.

It is grim but hardly surprising.

One elder Ukrainian official, who spoke connected information of anonymity, told the BBC that the problems faced by the service were already known, and that the revelations would not impact relations betwixt the 2 countries.

"[The leaks] aren't the main problem. The occupation is what's happening connected the beforehand line," the authoritative said.

"The determination to supply weapons doesn't mean they get to the beforehand lines immediately. It takes weeks, sometimes months."

For months, President Volodymyr Zelensky has talked openly astir ammunition and weapons shortages; others person repeatedly complained of delays successful the transportation of assistance promised by Western countries, portion the Ukrainian service grapples with difficulties successful mobilising caller troops.

Major territorial gains for Ukraine would undoubtedly boost morale and could besides assistance efforts to unafraid further subject support. But the other could effect successful unit connected Kyiv to see negotiating with Moscow.

Few Ukrainian officials person reacted successful nationalist to the leaks, and the revelations person not attracted important media coverage.

Oleksiy Danilov, caput of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said the leaks did not impact the military's plans arsenic "everything volition beryllium decided astatine the past moment".

"All the speculation astir the plans of the Ukrainian military," helium said, "in peculiar regarding the counter-offensive, are utterly baseless".

Earlier this week, Biden medication officials tried to reassure their allies successful Kyiv of their enduring enactment contempt the leaks. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Ukrainian subject had "much of the capableness that they request to proceed to beryllium successful".

Crucially, the leaks person truthful acold not included Ukraine's plans for its much-discussed counter-offensive.

The documents, which are from February and March, uncover the timeline for the grooming of Ukrainian brigades, details astir tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces being provided by Western countries, and concerns that Kyiv mightiness tally retired of captious missiles for its captious aerial defence systems.

The beforehand lines person remained mostly static since Ukraine recaptured the confederate metropolis of Kherson, successful November, and astir a 5th of the state remains nether occupation. Most of the caller warring has been successful the east, particularly astir Bakhmut, wherever a months-long conflict has destroyed astir of the metropolis and inflicted dense losses connected some sides.

In the south, outer images amusement that Russian forces are fortifying immoderate of their positions, including successful areas astir Melitopol, seen arsenic a main Ukrainian target.

In Russia, meanwhile, the lawman overseas curate suggested the documents that person appeared online mightiness beryllium an intentional US leak aimed astatine deceiving Moscow arsenic portion of a "hybrid war".

The elder Ukrainian official, who spoke anonymously, said it was "insane" that officials astatine that level had entree to this benignant of delicate information.

"Can you ideate the absorption from our Western partners if it had happened successful Ukraine?"