The publication of personal data on 120,000 Russian soldiers, if accurate, could provide a means to demoralize troops in Ukraine and make them targets for cyber campaigns.

In what security experts say is an unprecedented wartime leak, Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda published what it claims are the personal details of 120,000 Russian service personnel fighting in Ukraine. The nearly 6,000 pages of information, if accurate, contain names, registration numbers, and place of service for well over half of the estimated number of Russian soldiers who have invaded Ukraine.

The data was obtained by a Ukrainian think tank called The Center for Defense Strategies, which was created to monitor defense reforms and develop key government policies affecting Ukraine’s security and defense sector, with a particular focus on building independent analytical capabilities “at the level of the United States and Britain.” The Center is headed by former Ukraine Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk. Its board includes international security expert Alina Frolova, state asset management expert Oleksiy Martsenyuk, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, and economic and energy security expert Oleksandr Kharchenko.

High-profile Western security experts also sit on the Center’s board. Among them are the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, former Commander-In-Chief of U.S. European Command General Wesley Clark, former Special Defense Advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry from Britain Phil Jones, and Professor of the Department of War Studies at King’s College Neville Bolt.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

Photo by Kevin Schmid on Unsplash