Kremlin categorically denies Russia’s role in US highly-classified documents leak
The Kremlin has categorically dismissed accusations of Russia’s alleged role behind a leak of US intelligence documents about a number of countries, including Ukraine, saying there is a “general tendency” to always blame Moscow for such incidents.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, made the statement on Monday as the US national security community is grappling with a fallout from the release of dozens of secret documents, including the impact on sensitive information-sharing within the administration and ties with other countries.
The documents, leaked from the Pentagon and obtained by the New York Times, mainly include information about the war in Ukraine, including losses for both sides and other details.
When asked about allegations that Russia may have been responsible for the leaks, Peskov told reporters, "I cannot comment on this in any way. You and I know that there is in fact a tendency to always blame everything on Russia. It is, in general, a disease."
Commenting on the idea that Washington had spied on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin spokesman, who called the leaks "quite interesting", said that could not be ruled out.
"But the fact that the United States has been spying on various heads of state, especially in European capitals, for a long time now, has come up repeatedly, causing various scandalous situations," Peskov said.
Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Spy Service (SVR) has declined to provide any comments about the US leaks.
Given the breadth of topics covered by the documents, some national security experts and US officials say they suspect that the leaker could be American, but they do not rule out pro-Russian actors.
A former CIA officer claimed that Moscow may have orchestrated the leak in order to sow confusion and potential divisions between Washington and its allies.
Earlier on Monday, the United States Defense Department said Washington was assessing the impact of the recent online leak of highly-classified military and intelligence documents on the country's national security and its close allies.
The data leak has been rated as one of the most serious security breaches since more than 700,000 documents, videos, and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks whistleblower website in 2013.
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