Russian State TV Reacts Badly to Discussions of U.S. Intel Leaks

Kremlin propagandists were quick to knock back claims that a purported leak of classified U.S. documents which could have significant consequences for the war in Ukraine portrayed Moscow in a negative light.

The Pentagon has admitted that there was "sensitive and highly classified material" in the photographed documents circulating online, which included Russian and Ukrainian troop losses, Russian attack plans and acknowledgements by Moscow of its setbacks in the war.

The topic was discussed on the program Meeting Place (Mesto Vstrechi) on Monday during which pundit Alexei Naumov said that "we had treated those materials too flippantly" on Friday when the alleged leak was first reported.

He told the program, shown on the NTV channel, that this was because details of Russian losses allegedly revealed were "probably photoshopped" and that he had found "the original version of those materials."

"There Russian losses are several times higher than Ukrainian losses, which is probably closer to the truth," Naumov said in the clip tweeted by Francis Scarr of BBC Monitoring which as of Tuesday morning had received 173,000 views.

This comment prompted fellow pundit Anton Khashenko, a political analyst, to exclaim angrily with arms folded: "What? Russian losses are higher than Ukrainian losses? That's closer to the truth?"

Another clip tweeted by Scarr that has also gone viral showed the anchor of the show 60 Minutes on the Russia 1 channel change the subject quickly when a pundit described how the leak showed that Russia's security and intelligence services had been compromised by the U.S.

Former Russian secret service agent Leonid Reshetnikov said that the leak contains information that "the enemy—the Americans—shouldn't know about us and about our plans."

He said that the leak contained information "seemingly extracted through spying," adding, "that should alarm us."

When the host, Olga Skabeyeva, asked for an example, Reshetnikov said that the leaks revealed the state of Russian units and their mood.

Skabeyeva interrupted by saying "the mood is good and our plans are big," before quickly moving on to another subject.

The documents reported by The New York Times said that up to 43,000 Russian soldiers had been killed as of early 2023, with casualty numbers possibly as high as 223,000. This is compared with the 17,500 Ukrainian soldiers killed in action and up to 131,000 casualties.

They also revealed that Russia's military acknowledged its setbacks and "decreased combat capability" and that U.S. intelligence had penetrated nearly every Russian military body including the General Staff, the Defense Ministry and the GRU military intelligence agency.

However, the document leak, which also details information about Ukrainian defenses, could play into Russian hands and could help them potentially break through in critical spots on the battlefield, according to David Silbey, an associate professor of history at Cornell University.

"At the very least, it'll force the Ukrainians to realign themselves so that the information is no longer accurate," he said in comments emailed to Newsweek.

Silbey said that the leak will pose problems diplomatically while details, which include South Korea's support for Ukraine, will be "awkward."

"The other part of this is that the U.S. is once again seen to be spying on its allies, something everyone knows but politely ignores. This is going to force foreign governments to say something publicly."

He said that Russia will seek to close the gaps through which the information flowed. If it is electronic, they will "harden their computer systems," and if it was from human intelligence, "they'll find, arrest, and likely execute the people responsible unless the U.S. can get them out in time."

"Either way, the flow of information will be reduced substantially, which will make it hard for the U.S. to help Ukraine going forward," Silbey added.

Unnamed U.S. officials told Reuters that Moscow or pro-Russian elements were likely behind the leak.

The case is being investigated by the U.S Justice Department, which declined to comment when contacted by Newsweek.