LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday there was “a serious level of inaccuracy” in a widely reported leak of alleged classified information from the United States.
US national security agencies and the Department of Justice are investigating the release of dozens of classified documents to assess the damage to national security and relations with allies and other countries, including Ukraine.
“The widely reported leak of allegedly classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy,” a Defense Ministry spokesperson said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Readers should be careful about taking at face value allegations that have the potential to spread disinformation.”
Reuters reviewed more than 50 of the documents, labeled “Secret” and “Top Secret,” which first appeared on social media sites in March and purportedly reveal details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and information about allies, including Israel, South Korea and Turkey.
Reuters has not independently verified the authenticity of the documents in the leaks, which could be the most damaging release of US government information since the 2013 release of thousands of documents on WikiLeaks.
US officials have said that some documents giving casualty estimates on the Ukrainian battlefield appear to have been doctored to underestimate Russian losses.