The Washington Post said that US and European officials were quick to understand how dozens of confidential documents covering all methods of intelligence gathering were leaked, and how they found their way to the Internet.

These officials were stunned, and sometimes outraged, by the extraordinary amount of detail the files reveal about how the United States spies on friends and foes alike.

The newspaper pointed out that the documents, which appear to have come at least in part from the Pentagon and are classified top secret, provide tactical information about the war in Ukraine, including the country's combat capabilities. According to a defense official, some of the documents appeared to have been prepared over the winter for General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military officials, but were available to other US personnel and contract employees with security clearances.

Other documents include analysis by US intelligence agencies of Russia and several other countries, all based on information gathered from classified sources.

The Washington Post says the series of detailed briefings and summaries opens a rare window into the inner workings of US espionage. Among other secrets, the documents appear to reveal the places where the CIA recruited agents familiar with the closed-door conversations of world leaders. It also reveals a wiretap that shows Russia's mercenaries attempting to obtain weapons from a NATO ally for use against Ukraine, and the types of satellite imagery the United States uses to track Russian forces, including advanced and nearly unknown technology.
Source: The Seventh Day website