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At a bus stop in Kent, classified documents from the Ministry of Defense were discovered that contained details of a Royal Navy operation that sparked a dispute with Russia last week.
Last week he found a group of papers, reaching almost 50 pages, for a member of the public who he passed them on to the BBC. The Ministry of Defense has confirmed that the loss of the documents was reported at that time by an employee and that now the department has initiated an investigation into the security breach.
The discovery comes at a time when UK military operations are under special control. A British destroyer, HMS Defender, passed through disputed waters off the Crimean coast on Wednesday, causing a Moscow reaction.
Russia sent 20 planes and two Coast Guard ships to warn the UK ship of the waters it has claimed since its annexation of Crimea seven years ago. The Russian defense ministry said warning shots had been fired at the British destroyer and bombs were dropped as it passed, but the UK has denied the story.
According to the BBC, the document set out two potential routes for HMS Defender to take Ukraine to Georgia. A route was described as “safe and professional direct traffic from Odessa to Batumi”, including a short stretch through a “traffic separation scheme” near the southwestern tip of Crimea.
This route, according to the documents, “would provide an opportunity to interact with the Ukrainian government… In what the United Kingdom recognizes as Ukrainian territorial waters.”
The papers then set out a range of possible Russian responses, from “safe and professional” to “neither safe nor professional”.
Other more sensitive documents, marked as the “only secret eyes of the United Kingdom,” discuss plans for a possible UK military presence in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of the US-led NATO operation, which will have to end in September.
Although the BBC stated that it had not published details that could jeopardize the security of British and Allied troops, it reported that newspapers addressed the question of whether there would be British special forces in Afghanistan once the withdrawal was completed. .
“Any trace of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan that persists. . . it is valued that it is vulnerable to guidance by a complex network of actors “, says the document, adding that” there is the option of withdrawing completely “.
In response to the discovery of the documents, the Ministry of Defense said that the security of the information is taken “extremely seriously” and that an investigation has been initiated. “The employee in question reported the loss at the time. It would be inappropriate to make further comments,” he said.
On the revelation of specific details about HMS Defender, the Ministry of Defense said that, “as the public would expect, it plans carefully.”
“As a matter of routine, this includes analyzing all the potential factors affecting operational decisions,” he added.
But John Healey, Labor’s shadow defense secretary, said the gap was “as embarrassing as it is worrying for ministers”.
“It is vital that the internal investigation launched by the Secretary of State immediately establish how highly classified documents were taken out of the Department of Defense and then left that way,” Healey said.
“Ultimately, ministers must be able to confirm to the public that national security has not been undermined, that no military or security operations have been affected, and that there are adequate procedures in place to ensure that it does not happen. nothing like that again “.
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