Secret US Documents Leaked, Ukrainian Officials: Strategic Tasks Cannot Be Changed, But Operational Scenarios Are Constantly Refinement

Illustration. (Piaxabay/TayebMEZAHDIA)

JAKARTA - Ukraine was 'forced' to change some of its military plans ahead of a planned counteroffensive due to leaks of classified United States documents, CNN said on Monday, citing an official close to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

US officials are trying to find the source of leaks of classified documents detailing topics ranging from Ukraine's air defense to Israel's Mossad spy agency.

Asked about the CNN report, Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine's strategic plan had not changed, but more specific tactical plans were always subject to change.

"There are some strategic tasks, those tasks cannot be changed," he told Reuters, as reported, April 11.

"However, operational and tactical scenarios continue to be refined, based on an assessment of the situation on the battlefield, provision of resources, intelligence data on enemy resources, and so on," he explained.

"It is currently not possible to reassess the plans, as they are just being worked on (now)," he added.

Separately, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine told Reuters: "We are working on our own plans... The opinions of people who have nothing to do with this do not interest us... The circle of people who have Very limited information."

Earlier, Ukrainian officials told Reuters on Friday the allegedly leaked documents contained fictitious information and appeared to be a Russian disinformation campaign.

Meanwhile, some experts say, the source of the leak could have come from the United States.

"The focus now is, this is a leak from the US, because a lot of those documents are only in US hands," Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, said in an interview.

As previously reported, US authorities are working hard on identification and tracing, as classified documents leaked online, with details ranging from Ukrainian air defense to Israel's Mossad spy agency, while some experts say the source may be American.

Officials say the breadth of topics covered in the documents, which touch on wars in Ukraine, China, the Middle East, and Africa, suggests the documents may have been leaked by Americans and not by their allies.