U.S. Government, Media Pushing False Data on Ukraine War Casualties, Leaked Documents Suggest

Originally published April 11, 2023 11:08 pm PDT

Casualty figures differ drastically between mainstream media and reality.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Leaked documents apparently reveal that mainstream media sources are misinforming the public about Russian military casualties in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
  • The U.S. government is also reportedly using false casualty data provided by the Ukrainian government that underreports Ukrainian deaths.
  • The documents are said to have been leaked on the social media messaging platform Discord, a site popular among gamers.
  • United States mainstream media has reported that the Russian military has lost 200,000 men since operations in various regions of Ukraine began, but the intelligence documents suggest the number is closer to 43,000 Russian deaths.
  • While over-reporting Russian deaths, the media has also been incorrectly reporting that Ukrainian forces have only lost 17,500 men.
  • Instead, Ukrainian soldiers reported that bodies are not recovered, and therefore not counted, in order to maintain the appearance that the casualty figure is low.
  • Citizens of the Donetsk People’s Republic, one of the most hotly contested areas between the two countries, claim Ukraine has lost at least 20,000 soldiers there alone.
U.S. MILITARY IN UKRAINE:
  • Leaked documents also suggest President Joe Biden’s supposed effort to keep the U.S. military out of Ukraine is false.
  • The documents also indicate that there are 100 U.S. personnel in Ukraine.
  • In addition to U.S. personnel, the document describes NATO forces from Great Britain, France, Latvia, and the Netherlands also being present in Ukraine.
  • Journalist Michael Tracy noted that the public knows nothing about U.S. SOFs (Special Operation Forces), a group that he implies may be connected with Biden’s call for a “presidential covert action finding.”
BACKGROUND:
  • “We are aware of the reports of social media posts and the department is reviewing the matter,” said Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh of the document leak.
  • Others hold some of the documents had been photoshopped or altered.
  • U.S. officials blamed Russia for the documents, prompting Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to comment, “There is in fact a tendency to always blame everything on Russia. It is, in general, a disease.”

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