Leaked US military documents suspect, Jack Teixeira, an employee of the US Air Force National Guard, shared the military intelligence online as early as February 2022.
Teixeira, who was arrested last week, is accused of leaking classified documents to a small group of gamers, had been posting sensitive information months earlier than previously known and to a much larger chat group, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing online postings reviewed by the newspaper.
Soon after Russia launched its special military operation in eastern Ukraine, a user profile matching that of Teixeira began posting secret intelligence about the Russian campaign on a previously undisclosed chat group on the social platform Discord, the Times reported, adding, the group's chatroom, which had about 600 members, was listed on a YouTube channel and was easily accessible to the public, the newspaper added.
Teixeira, 21, now faces criminal charges for leaking top-secret military intelligence records online.
The disclosure of the Pentagon's docs is reported to be the most serious US security breach since the 2010 WikiLeaks.
The leaking of secret military intel had not come to the attention of the Pentagon until they were reportedly revealed earlier this month in a New York Times report.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it expected findings within 45 days from a review into how the military handles classified intel following the recent leaking.
"The department is taking this breach seriously and continues to work around the clock to better understand the scope and scale of these leaks," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.