The British defence minister said on Sunday that it was investigating how secret defence documents, outlining the movements of a warship that led to Russia firing warning shots off the Crimean coast, were found at a bus stop in England.
The Ministry of Defence said that an employee told it last week that the documents had been lost, and that an investigation had been launched.
The BBC believes the documents, which include emails and PowerPoint presentations, originated in the office of a senior official at the MoD.
Britsh Defence Minister should be accountable
“It shouldn’t be able to happen,” Brandon Lewis, minister for Northern Ireland, told media on Sunday.
“It was properly reported at the time… and there’s an internal investigation into that situation.” But the Defence ministry should have better control over the movement of sensitive documents and this issue needs to be addressed in Parliament so the British Defence minister can be held to account.
An anonymous member of the public told the BBC they found 50 pages of classified information behind a bus stop in Kent, southern England, on Tuesday.
Russia news today
On Wednesday more than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships shadowed the warship as it sailed about 12 miles (19km) off Crimea’s coast.
This news has only added fuel to the fire where the Russia news Today is reporting it as a deliberate attempt, by the Defence Ministery to leak documents to the press.
The papers discussed the possible Russian reaction to Britain’s HMS Defender travelling through Ukrainian waters off the coast of Crimea on Wednesday, the BBC reported.
Russia on Wednesday said it fired warning shots at the navy destroyer in the Black Sea after what it said was a violation of its territorial waters.
Russia’s defence ministry said warning shots were fired and bombs dropped along the path of the HMS Defender.
Among the other documents found at the bus stop were those that laid out plans for possible British military presence in Afghanistan after the end of NATO operations there.
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