Ukraine says many war secrets safe from intel leaks

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, left, with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during an honour cordon ceremony, upon his arrival at the Pentagon Wednesday in Washington. Pic/AP

Ukraine's leaders say they don't see a major U.S. intelligence leak as gravely damaging future offensives. A key reason: They have long held back on sharing their most sensitive operational information, doubting Washington's ability to keep their secrets safe.

Ukrainian and U.S. officials said this week that only Ukrainians know some battle plans and other operational information, not the Americans, their most important ally. That means the leak of secret military documents, including some assessing Ukraine's battlefield strengths and weaknesses against Russia, may not have been enough - so far - to change the course of the war. "If military operations are planned, then only a very narrow circle of people know about the planning of the special operation," Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Wednesday. "The risk of leaks is very minimal" for the most important war matters.

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The U.S. sees the leaks as grave. The documents include previously unreported sensitive disclosures about Ukraine, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and others. Senior Biden administration officials are working to stop the flow of classified information onto social media and websites and head off any lasting damage to relationships with allies and strategic partners. And more damaging material could still surface. Leaked documents continue to appear online, future revelations may be more detrimental to Ukraine than ones that have been publicized so far.

Russia is making clear it is avidly studying each secret. "Quite interesting," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the leaks.

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