Pentagon narrows access to classified documents – CBS

The Pentagon has greatly reduced the number of people on government-wide distribution lists to receive classified information, CBS News reported Wednesday. Prior to the recent leak of classified documents, some 1,000 people usually had access to such papers. There is a limited number of printers authorized to print such classified documents, and all devices authorized for the task require a unique ID when printing. The trove of dozens of documents had been circulating online for weeks, possibly months, but came under media and government scrutiny only last week. The US government has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of the documents, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stating that the Pentagon was taking the situation “very seriously” and pledged to “turn over every rock” to establish what exactly happened.

The Pentagon has released documents that suggest the US has been spying on some of its closest allies. The documents contained information about the US and NATO war-planning effort in Ukraine, data on ammunition expenditures, timelines for training and arms deliveries, as well as the structure of Ukrainian combat units and estimated battlefield losses. Moscow has questioned the authenticity of the documents, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov suggesting the leak might have been orchestrated by Washington itself as part of its "hybrid war" effort against Russia. Ryabkov suggested different scenarios are plausible here.