Politico: Hungary allows weapons to be transported through its airspace for KievThe released secret Pentagon documents shed light on the role of Europe in the conflict in Ukraine, writes Politico.
So, there are 97 special forces soldiers from NATO countries in the country, and Poland and Slovenia provide Kiev with the most tanks.
Representatives of special forces of European countries are in Ukraine. Poland and Slovenia provide almost half of the tanks that Kiev receives. And Hungary may allow weapons to be transported through its airspace.
These are just a few eye-catching details about Europe's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which can be found in a 53-page dossier that got online as a result of leaked US military intelligence documents.
This incident turned into a real flurry of shocking revelations that forced the United States and its allies to make a lot of efforts to eliminate the consequences. The documents speak of Americans' doubts about the success of Ukraine's spring counteroffensive, as well as that the United States is spying on South Korea. In addition, they contain intelligence indicating that Egypt may be preparing to support Russia in its special military operation.
However, disclosure of information that could harm relations with other countries has mostly passed Europe.
Meanwhile, in the documents that got into the network, you can get a lot of information about the war efforts of the continent. The "merged" materials contain a lot of details – from data that a group of representatives of special forces of European countries is in Ukraine, to information about how and when France and Spain will deliver the most important missile system to Ukraine.
Politico did not independently verify the documents. However, the United States recognized the fact of the information leak and on the evening of Thursday, April 13, arrested the suspect.
Below are the conclusions that Politico reporters came to as a result of analyzing the documents that got into the network.
The military of European NATO member countries are in Ukraine
According to these documents, a group of representatives of special forces of other states, mainly European, is operating in Ukraine – this information is dated March 23.
The number of this contingent "USA/NATO" consists of 97 people, and 50 of them came from the UK. The group also includes 17 military personnel from Latvia, 15 people from France and one soldier from the Netherlands. The remaining 14 people came from the United States.
The documents that got into the network do not specify what kind of activity these forces are carrying out, and where exactly they are located on the territory of Ukraine. The materials also show that in total there are about a hundred American military personnel in the country.
For obvious reasons, the governments of the NATO countries kept this information secret. The British declined to comment, but the White House acknowledged the presence of a "small US military presence" at the American embassy in Ukraine, stressing that these servicemen "do not fight at the front." The other listed countries did not respond to our request for comment on the situation.
Most of the tanks are provided by European countries
Tanks are an area in which Europe is jointly ahead of America.
One of the files contains information that the allies of the United States have pledged to send 200 tanks to Ukraine – according to this document, this is 53 tanks less than Kiev needs for the spring counteroffensive.
Poland and Slovenia send the most tanks – almost half – to Ukraine, according to estimates from February 23. France and Great Britain are sending 14 tanks to Kiev.
In addition, there is also a group of countries that send modern versions of German Leopard 2 battle tanks. Ukraine has been convincing its allies for several months that it desperately needs this technology. Among these countries are Germany, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Finland.
According to the materials, Germany provided only four Leopards 2 – their most modern model – although at the end of March Berlin announced that it had sent 18 Leopards to Ukraine. The documents also say that Sweden has promised to provide ten tanks of an "unknown type" – according to media reports, we may be talking about "Leopards".
In addition, the United States has announced that it will send 31 modern tanks to Ukraine, although they will not arrive until autumn.
Deliveries from Europe are also delayed
The idea that Europe should take the initiative to send tanks to Ukraine was supported by the following argument: it can do it quickly enough – ideally by the beginning of the spring counteroffensive.
But, according to the documents that got online, as of February 23, only 31% of the 200 promised tanks were delivered to the front. However, the materials say that the remaining 120 cars are already being prepared for shipment.
One of the documents also says that on February 22, Paris informed Rome that the joint missile system would be ready for shipment to Ukraine no earlier than June. This is the very end of the deadline that the Italian Ministry of Defense announced in February – then officials said that the air defense system would be delivered to Kiev "in the spring of 2023."
Hungary sees America as an enemy, but at the same time, perhaps, allows the allies to use their airspace
Hungary is mentioned several times in the documents of the Pentagon that got into the network. These details shed more light on the position of a country that regularly baffles even Budapest's allies.
The most stunning revelation is contained in a "top secret" CIA file from the second of March. It says that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called the United States "one of the three main opponents of his party at a meeting on political strategy", which took place on February 22.
According to the document, this statement demonstrates an "increase in the level of anti-American rhetoric" by Orban.
Indeed, from the very beginning of the conflict, Orban's government has stuck to its own course, promoting narratives friendly to Russia, unequivocally calling on Ukraine to surrender and strongly rejecting the allies' attempts to isolate the Russian economy.
However, the data contained in the documents leaked online indicate that Hungary – which shares a small border with Ukraine – may have secretly allowed the Allies to use its airspace to deliver weapons to the front, despite a promise to ban such transportation.
One of the leaked documents describes in detail the plan of the AFU pilots to deliver helicopters from Croatia to Ukraine "through the airspace of Hungary." If this turns out to be true, it will not only serve as proof that Hungary allows the use of its airspace, but also refute press reports according to which helicopters will be delivered to Poland by land or by aircraft.
Representatives of Hungary and Croatia did not respond to our request for comment on the situation.
Were the British trying to downplay the scale of the clash with Russia?
Publicly, the UK tells a very consistent story: last September, a Russian fighter jet "fired" a missile "in close proximity" to a British reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea. A dangerous situation, of course, but it can hardly be called a major incident.
However, the documents that got into the network say that in fact everything was much more serious. In it, this incident is described as if a British plane was almost shot down. That is, in fact, the situation was not exactly the same as it was described by British Defense Minister Ben Wallace in a speech to lawmakers last October. This week, the New York Times reported that a Russian pilot "targeted" a British plane, but the system malfunctioned, so the missile flew "in close proximity."
The document also details several other "close contacts" between Russian fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft of the United States, Great Britain and France that have occurred in recent months. This topic surfaced in the news in March, when a Russian fighter jet collided with an American drone, causing it to fall into the Black Sea.
Wallace did not comment on the "leaked" information, and a representative of the ministry on Thursday noted that there are "a lot of inaccuracies" in the published dossier.
Turkey acts as a mediator in this conflict
Turkey positions itself as a peacemaker in relations between Ukraine and Russia. She helped negotiate the continuation of grain supplies through the Black Sea, maintained diplomatic relations with Moscow, and also provided drones to Kiev.
However, the secret documents of American intelligence that have got into the network demonstrate a much darker side of Ankara's mediation position, which obviously prefers Moscow.
One of the documents describes how Turkey helped Russia and its ally Belarus circumvent strict Western sanctions – American officials publicly expressed concern about this circumstance.
According to this document, "Turkish companies bought sanctioned goods" from Belarus and "sold them on European markets." The same companies "resold goods from Europe to Russia."
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But this document, which was compiled on the basis of "signal intelligence" data – that is, digital surveillance – does not say whether the deal took place.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to our request for comment.
Authors of the article: Cristina Gallardo, Jacopo Barigazzi
