The New York Times revealed that a leaker of classified Pentagon documents was releasing sensitive information months earlier than previously known and to a much larger group. And it reported in its yesterday (Friday) issue: that in February 2022, shortly after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, an account on the Discord social networking platform comparable to that of Jacques Teixeira, a member of the National Guard, began publishing classified intelligence information about the Russian war effort on Facebook. previously undisclosed chat group.

The newspaper reported that the group had about 600 members, and that the chat room in question was publicly listed on a YouTube channel for videos and was easily accessible.

According to the newspaper, the newly discovered information posted on the larger chat group included details of the dead and injured among Russian and Ukrainian forces, the activities of intelligence agencies in Moscow, and updates on aid to Ukraine. It explained that the user claimed to be publishing information from the National Security Agency, the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Observers describe this issue as the most serious US security breach since the appearance of more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks in 2010. The Pentagon described the leak as a "deliberate criminal act". The leaks were not brought to light until The New York Times published them in early April, although the documents were published earlier than this date.

Last week, the 21-year-old US Air National Guard member was arrested, who faces criminal charges of leaking top-secret military intelligence documents over the Internet.

Teixeira faces a charge of violating the Espionage Act related to the copying and transmission of sensitive defense material, as well as a charge of illegally moving defense material to an unauthorized location. Legal experts said he was likely to face more charges.

Okaz (Washington) @okaz_online

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