Someone somewhere in Britain is getting yelled at or fired it seems. Why? You ask, well a set of classified British Military documents were discovered at a bus stop in Kent last Tuesday. How they got there? no one knows but it is clear that someone forgot them while waiting for the bus and this certain someone might be getting an earful right now.
The documents found were 50 pages long and were found in a soggy heap behind the bus stop. The person who found the documents anonymously sent them to BBC when he took a gander through the documents and realized just how serious they were. The folks at BBC being true reporters at heart obviously went through the documents as well. They believe that the documents originated in the office of a senior official at the MoD.
The documents included emails and PowerPoint presentations. They refer to two major topics. One is details about the HMS Defender and the other about the UK military’s possible presence in Afghanistan after the US-NATO operation ends in the area. The HMS Defender is a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer. The documents regarding it described a mission by the MoD about passing through Ukrainian waters.
According to BBC, the documents described the mission as an innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters with the ship’s guns covered and the helicopters stowed away in its hanger. The mission was said to be conducted in response to expectations of Russia’s aggressive retaliation. Tensions have been increasing between both countries as on last Wednesday around 20 Russian aircraft and two ships shadowed the HMS Defender.
The other thing the documents talked about was most intriguing. On one document marked “Secret UK Eyes Only”, there were details about recommendations for the UK’s military footprint in Afghanistan. This, according to the document, would be considered following the end of Operation Resolute Support. Which is the NATO operation currently happening in light of President Biden’s decision to withdraw American Forces.
The documents detailed that “Any UK footprint in Afghanistan that persists… is assessed to be vulnerable to targeting by a complex network of actors”. It further noted that “the option to withdraw completely remains”.