What are the files about?
The classified documents, which haven’t been individually authenticated by United States officials, might range from briefing slides mapping out most Ukrainian military positions to assessments of international military support for Ukraine and other secret and sensitive topics, such as potential scenarios in which Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons. The exact number of the leaked documents is still unknown, but according to the Associated Press, estimates might indicate that there were hundreds of them, which is way more than expected.
Where did they come from?
Unfortunately, even if there were someone who wanted to answer this question, they couldn’t. It seems that not even the Pentagon chief knows the answer. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained in his latest press conference that some of them are on the web, but their exact location isn’t known, nor is it known who has access to them.
In fact, they know very little. He also reassured us that the investigation is ongoing and that they are determined to turn every rock until they find the source of the leak. According to the latest allegations, the leak might have started on Discord.
Discord is a social media platform that has become widely popular among people playing online games. The Discord site allows real-time voice, video, and text chats for wider groups. The platform likes to describe itself as a place where you can belong to a community.
In some of these forums, members were widely debating the war in Ukraine. According to a member, an unidentified poster shared classified documents, uploading images of folded papers as well as the user’s own thoughts.
Then, another user posted them on another Discord group chat, where they got picked up by the media. However, many details of this story can’t be verified, and the top U.S. officials publicly acknowledged that they will try to find answers.
