<p>The leak of a trove of highly sensitive documents online could be a move by the United States to "deceive" Russia, its deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying Wednesday.</p>.<p>"It's probably interesting for someone to look at these documents, if they really are documents or they could be a fake or it could be an intentional leak," Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies.</p>.<p>"Since the US is a party to the (Ukraine) conflict and is essentially waging a hybrid war against us, it is possible that such techniques are being used to deceive their opponent, the Russian Federation," he said.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/russia-moves-to-make-draft-evasion-more-difficult-1208802.html" target="_blank">Russia moves to make draft evasion more difficult</a></strong><br /><br />The breach -- which has sparked a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice -- includes classified information about Ukraine's fight against Russian forces, as well as secret assessments of US allies.</p>.<p>A document reviewed by <em>AFP</em> highlighted US concerns about Ukraine's capacity to keep defending against Russian strikes, while the <em>Washington Post</em> reported that another expressed doubts about the success of an upcoming offensive by Kyiv's forces.</p>.<p><em>The Guardian</em> newspaper said that in one document US officials estimated that there were 97 special forces members from NATO countries active in Ukraine at one point, including 50 British troops.</p>.<p>Dozens of photographs of documents -- some of which also point to US spying on allies and partners including Israel, South Korea and Ukraine -- have been found on Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other sites in recent days, though some may have been circulating online for some time.</p>.<p>Many of the documents are no longer available on the sites where they first appeared, and Washington is reportedly working to have them removed.</p>
<p>The leak of a trove of highly sensitive documents online could be a move by the United States to "deceive" Russia, its deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying Wednesday.</p>.<p>"It's probably interesting for someone to look at these documents, if they really are documents or they could be a fake or it could be an intentional leak," Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies.</p>.<p>"Since the US is a party to the (Ukraine) conflict and is essentially waging a hybrid war against us, it is possible that such techniques are being used to deceive their opponent, the Russian Federation," he said.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/russia-moves-to-make-draft-evasion-more-difficult-1208802.html" target="_blank">Russia moves to make draft evasion more difficult</a></strong><br /><br />The breach -- which has sparked a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice -- includes classified information about Ukraine's fight against Russian forces, as well as secret assessments of US allies.</p>.<p>A document reviewed by <em>AFP</em> highlighted US concerns about Ukraine's capacity to keep defending against Russian strikes, while the <em>Washington Post</em> reported that another expressed doubts about the success of an upcoming offensive by Kyiv's forces.</p>.<p><em>The Guardian</em> newspaper said that in one document US officials estimated that there were 97 special forces members from NATO countries active in Ukraine at one point, including 50 British troops.</p>.<p>Dozens of photographs of documents -- some of which also point to US spying on allies and partners including Israel, South Korea and Ukraine -- have been found on Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other sites in recent days, though some may have been circulating online for some time.</p>.<p>Many of the documents are no longer available on the sites where they first appeared, and Washington is reportedly working to have them removed.</p>