(PatriotWise.com) — Ukrainian officials are keeping details of a planned counteroffensive secret – even from the White House. Unnamed European sources say that Ukraine is worried about information leaks after the Jack Teixeira scandal.
Teixeira is a member of the Massachusetts National Guard who was arrested in April on charges of “unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information” and “unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.” He is alleged to have shared the information on online gaming sites.
The documents contained details on the position of some of Ukraine’s troops and the nation’s weapons stockpiles. In the days that followed the leak, US officials attempted to quell concerns and said new procedures were in place to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Ukraine is now keeping plans for a counteroffensive close to its chest, including the time of the attack and the number of troops it will use. The White House and European allies are aware that an attack is imminent, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby admits that the US has received no further detail.
“They don’t have an obligation to notify us to tell us in advance,” Kirby said.
Russia is also aware that Ukraine is planning a counteroffensive before the summer. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been open about it and told reporters that “it will happen,” but he was unwilling to specify further.
Moscow has known about the planned attack for some months and has busily prepared, particularly along the hundreds of miles of the southern front line. Satellite imagery shows miles of anti-tank ditches, minefields, and trenches throughout the area.
There are signs of struggle on the Russian side however, with Wagner, a private military company, threatening to withdraw its forces from the embattled city of Bakhmut if it does not receive more ammunition and weapons. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, told a pro-Kremlin blogger that Russia had stopped providing ammunition to fighters in the heavily contested area.
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