Classified document leak will 'lead to death', warns Pentagon

The leak of highly classified US documents is a "very serious" security risk, the Pentagon's top spokesman said on Monday. 

Washington is taking steps to mitigate the damage from the disclosure, which revealed sensitive information about the conflict in Ukraine, such as the situation on the front and Kyiv's crucial anti-aircraft defences. 

"We don't know who is responsible," said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. "We don't know if they have more [documents] to post. Is this a concern for us? Absolutely."

The damaging leak has raised eyebrows among the US allies. 

Intelligence involving other nations was revealed, with some documents mentioning that Israel's secret service Mossad would defend demonstrations inside the country against controversial judicial reform. 

Many are marked "secret" or "top secret", though Euronews cannot confirm their authenticity.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has reportedly spoken to allies, held daily meetings to assess the damage and set up a group to figure out what was lost and who had access to the information.

That such documents are circulating online is "a very serious risk to national security and has the potential to fuel disinformation", US Department of Defence spokesman Chris Meagher told reporters on Monday.

Part of the intelligence brief revealed that Russian spies were caught boasting about convincing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to "work together against US and UK intelligence agencies". 

The Emirati government has dismissed these allegations as "categorically false", though concerns have grown in Washington that the UAE has helped Russia circumvent sanctions over the Ukraine invasion. 

A criminal investigation has been opened by the US Justice Department, with