THE US is in the midst of its most serious national security crisis in years – and the centre of it is a geeky gamer who leaked top secret papers to his pals.
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old US airman who dubbed himself Jack the Dripper, was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday.
A treasure trove of classified documents was shared on Discord, Twitter, and Telegram, containing bombshell US intelligence gathered on other countries.
The 100 pages of stunning information include dangerous revelations of Ukraine's planned offensive and reports that the US has been spying on key allies.
But intelligence experts fear the most damaging revelation of all is the simple fact that the US appears to have lost the ability to keep its secrets safe.
Reports of information within the leaked documents started appearing in the media on April 6.
The following day the channel in question on Discord was identified and frantic work started to remove pictures of the top secret papers.
Days later on April 11, the US publicly acknowledged the major leak, with defence secretary Lloyd Austin saying officials were unclear on how the papers spilled onto social media.
On Thursday, April 13, the New York Times named Teixeira as the source of the leak and he was arrested by FBI agents at his home in Massachusetts.
Teixeira, who served as a member of the intelligence wing of the Air National Guard, is set to appear in court on Friday and could face up to 10 years in jail.
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Revelations brought to light so far – which have yet to be verified by intelligence agencies struggling to limit the damage – include:
Vladimir Putin 'receiving chemotherapy'
The leaked docs further fuelled speculation over Putin's supposed ill health by suggesting the tyrant undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
Rumours that the Russian despot, 70, is suffering from various illnesses have rumbled on for months.
Eyebrows have been raised repeatedly over his use of absurdly long tables and shaking hands.
Bombshell spy documents leaked to The Sun previously appeared to confirm the dictator has pancreatic cancer and early-stage Parkinson's disease.
The leaked Pentagon memo meanwhile described an alleged plot to sabotage Putin – hinged on the president being incapacitated while receiving chemotherapy treatment.
China secretly launched hypersonic missile
Another revelation within the documents reveals China secretly launched a 6,500mph hypersonic missile that could beat US defence systems.
The classified US military documents suggest that Beijing conducted an experimental hypersonic weapons test in February.
One of China's experimental missiles, the DF-27 hypersonic glide vehicle, was launched on February 25, the Washington Post reported.
The missile flew for 12 minutes over a distance of 1,300 miles and had a "high probability" of hitting the US ballistic missile defence systems.
The DF-27 missile – designed to carry hypersonic glide vehicles – is a successor to the DF-17 and is believed to be still under development.
It is believed it could penetrate US air defences thanks to its extended range – and would open up a number of other targets.
It belongs to the third-generation of China’s nuclear weapons – the same arsenal of equipment as the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile.
The missile can carry 10 nuclear warheads with a range of more than 14,000km – making it capable of striking any location on Earth, according to Chinese media.
Russia almost shot down British jet
The top-secret docs also tell how Russia almost shot down a British jet in a terrifying near miss off the coast of Ukraine.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace last revealed a fighter jet fired a missile near an RAF plane over the Black Sea.
Speaking in the Commons in October Mr Wallace dubbed it a "dangerous" clash.
At the time the Defence Secretary told MPs how the unarmed RAF Rivet Joint was on routine patrol in international airspace in September when it was tailed by two Russian Su-27 fighter jets.
Mr Wallace then revealed that during the 90-minute interaction off the coast of Ukraine one of the Su-27s fired a missile near the RAF plane.
But the leaked US military docs detailed the seriousness of what happened on September 29.
The Washington Post reported the classified documents referred to the incident as a “near-shoot down of UK RJ" – which is the name of the fighter jet.
Plot to sabotage Putin
An alleged plot by high-ranking Kremlin officials to sabotage Putin is also revealed within the classified docs.
The reported plan – which the Kremlin has denied – is hinged on Putin being incapacitated while receiving chemotherapy treatment, it is claimed.
According to the documents, the information about the plot to sabotage Putin came from an unidentified Russian source with access to the Kremlin's inner circles.
It specifically names Russian National Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and Russian Chief of General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov as the masterminds of the alleged plot.
At the top of the document are the coded letters: TS//SI//REL TO USA, FVEY/FISA, which identifies it as a top secret report collected from communications monitoring to be released to only those with top security clearance in the USA of 'Five Eyes' countries (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US).
The memo reads: “According to the [redacted source], who received the information from an unidentified Russian source with access to Kremlin officials, Russia planned to divert resources from the Taganrog, Russia to Mariupol, Ukraine and focus its attention on the southern front.
"According to the [redacted source] the plan for ‘the offensive’… was suspected to be a strategy devised by Russian National Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and Russian Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov to sabotage presumably Putin.”
It continued: "Gerasimov reportedly planned to continue his efforts to sabotage the offensive, noting that he promised to "throw" the so-called special military operation by 5 March, when Putin was allegedly scheduled to star a round of chemo theory and would thus be unable to influence the war effort."
Ukraine war weapons
The documents also reveal South Korea and Egypt had alleged plans to send weapons to Ukraine and Russia respectively.
Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was going to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia in secret, reports the Washington Post.
But he told officials to keep information about production and shipment confidential to "avoid problems with the West".
It is reported Fattah al-Sisi said it was "the least Egypt could do to repay Russia" for unspecified previous help.
But the reported plan to arm Russia was dismissed by an unnamed official on Egyptian news channels, who called the allegation "utterly baseless".
The White House also said there was "no indication" Egypt planned to send weapons to Russia.
Meanwhile, it is reported the documents show South Korea considered selling weapons to Ukraine, the BBC reports.
The document, seen by the outlet, details a conversation between national security advisers.
During the sensitive discussion, it is reported they were torn between following their policy not to arm countries at war and US pressure to send ammo to Ukraine.
The classified docs also revealed Ukraine's plans ahead of a planned spring offensive against Russia.
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They reportedly contain charts and details about weapons deliveries, battalion strengths and other sensitive information, the Times said.
One of the documents summarised the training schedules of 12 Ukraine combat brigades, and said nine of them were being trained by US and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles.
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