Officials at the Pentagon have been busy, for more than a year, analyzing the war in Ukraine. They have made assessments about the readiness of troops on both sides, and they have come up with classified plans to help the Ukrainian military. But now they are scrambling to find out how some of those documents were leaked online.

The files appeared on the social media sites Twitter and Telegram. Reporters at The New York Times broke the story on Thursday, citing senior White House officials.

The documents do not provide specifics about the offensive that Ukrainian leaders have hinted is coming in the next few weeks. However, they do include American and Ukrainian views, as of March 1, of what soldiers might need for the campaign.
They mention that troops have been quickly using up HIMARS rocket systems supplied by the US. And they contain information about Ukrainian brigades receiving training by NATO allies, and how much, and by when, other equipment would be needed.

However, some analysts are casting doubt on the authenticity of the documents. They say the Russians may be behind the leak, in an effort to spread disinformation. They point out that the figures for the number of Russian casualties are much lower than Pentagon estimates.

An aide to the Ukrainian president went even further. Mykhailo Podolyak wrote that the leak contains "a large amount of fictitious information."

Pentagon officials have not commented on the authenticity of the documents or who they think is behind the leak.