Kiev, April 14, (dpa/GNA) – The publication of leaked classified documents in the US will not have any influence on Kiev’s planned offensive as it seeks to fend off a full-scale Russian offensive, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence service.
Moscow may be the only beneficiary of the data leak, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of military intelligence in Kiev, admitted in an interview with US broadcaster ABC. “This will not be able to affect the real results of the offensive operation,” he said.
The affair will not have a lasting negative impact on the relationship between Washington and Kiev, he added.
Military experts have been expecting Kiev to launch a counter-offensive in the coming weeks to retake Russian-held territory.
The leaked documents, however, revealed doubts on the part of the US, saying the approach could lead to significantly smaller gains in terrain than the two offensives in autumn, when Ukraine managed to recapture large areas in the north near Kharkiv and in the south near Kherson.
Moreover, Ukrainian air defences were said to be increasingly weakened.
Should Russia gain air supremacy in the war, it could severely damage Ukraine given the massive superiority of Moscow’s air force.
Budanov conceded that Kiev urgently needed the offensive to succeed but said Kiev sees no pressure from Western allies at the moment.
“Without victories, sooner or later, questions will be asked whether it’s worth continuing to support Ukraine,” he said.
The US think tank Institute for the Study of War recently published a similar assessment, citing Ukrainian Brigadier General Olexiy Hromov.
In the long term, Moscow’s mobilization potential in the war should not be underestimated. Russia has larger population reserves and can switch to a war economy to continue fighting if the war drags on.
Meanwhile in the US, the Department of Defence plans to access to intelligence information, to prevent further leaks in the future.
“I will also not hesitate to take any additional measures necessary to safeguard our nation’s secrets,” Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said late on Thursday.
“Accordingly, I am directing the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security to conduct a review of our intelligence access, accountability and control procedures within the Department to inform our efforts to prevent this kind of incident from happening again,” he said.
His comments came after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a suspect in the investigation into the publication of the explosive US intelligence information online.
The man was taken into custody in connection with the “alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defence information,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Washington on Thursday.
The arrested man is “an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard.” He was taken into custody “without incident,” Garland said. “This investigation is ongoing.”
Lloyd said he wanted to underscore that all US service members, Department of Defense civilians and contractors with access to classified information had a solemn legal and moral obligation to safeguard it and to report any suspicious activity or behaviour.
GNA