- Written by Paul Adams and George Wright
- BBC News
Watch: The Pentagon Leaks Explained in Under 60 Seconds.
The UK is among a number of countries with special military forces operating inside Ukraine, according to one of dozens of documents leaked online.
It confirms what has been the subject of quiet speculation for over a year.
The leaked files, some marked “top secret,” paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine, including sensitive details of Ukraine’s preparations for a counteroffensive in the spring.
The US government says it is investigating the source of the leak.
According to the document dated March 23, the UK has the largest group of special forces in Ukraine (50), followed by fellow NATO countries Latvia (17), France (15), the US (14) and the Netherlands (1). .
The document did not say where the forces were located or what they were doing.
Staff numbers may be small, and will undoubtedly fluctuate. But special forces, by their very nature, are very effective. Their presence in Ukraine will likely be taken advantage of by Moscow, which has argued in recent months that it is not just against Ukraine, but also NATO.
In keeping with its standard policy on such matters, the UK Ministry of Defense did not comment, however in a tweet On Tuesday, he said the leak of alleged classified information showed what it called a “dangerous level of inaccuracy”.
“Readers should be careful with claims of face value that have the potential to spread misinformation,” she said.
He did not elaborate or suggest the specific documents he was referring to. However, Pentagon officials have been quoted as saying the documents are genuine.
One of the documents, which detailed the number of victims suffered in Ukraine on both sides, appears to have been tampered with.
The UK Special Forces are made up of several elite military units with distinct areas of expertise, and are considered to be among the most capable forces in the world.
The British government has a policy of not commenting on its own forces, unlike other countries including the United States.
The United Kingdom has been vocal in its support of Ukraine, which is the second largest donor of military aid to Kiev after the United States.
