🧠 Background — Pentagon leaks in 2023
In April 2023, a large set of U.S. classified documents (from the Pentagon) were leaked online. These included intelligence assessments about Russia, Ukraine, and U.S. allies. Among those papers was a document that said Russian intelligence officers claimed they had convinced UAE security officials to “work together against U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies.”
Key points from that leak:
The leaked document reportedly said that Russia’s FSB — the main Russian intelligence agency — claimed that UAE security officials and Russian intelligence agreed to coordinate against U.S. and British intelligence.
The U.S. government has not confirmed whether that document is authentic and said some materials could be altered or misleading.
The UAE strongly denied these accusations, calling the claims “categorically false.
📌 What the reports did and did not say
❌ There is no verified public reporting from credible news agencies (AP, Reuters, NYT, BBC, etc.) that the UAE officially leaked the identity of a specific U.S. intelligence officer to Russia.
✔ What the leaked documents included in some versions shared online was:
A claim that Russian spies boasted they had “turned” the UAE against U.S. intelligence, based on signals intelligence cited in the documents.
The documents were part of a wider breach of classified material that also included various assessments about NATO aid to Ukraine and other allied operations.
🧾 Official positions
U.S. officials have not publicly stated that there is evidence the UAE deliberately passed a U.S. agent’s identity to Russia. Instead, they have expressed concern about:
growing Russia-UAE economic and intelligence contact, according to drafts of internal assessments seen in leaks; and
UAE being used as a conduit to circumvent sanctions against Russia.
The UAE government denies any deepening of intelligence cooperation with Russia or involvement in undermining U.S. intelligence.
🧩 Important context
Allegations about intelligence cooperation sometimes stem from unverified leaked documents; such leaks can contain errors or misinformation, and U.S. officials have warned against taking every leaked item at face value.
There is no credible confirmation in open reporting that an individual U.S. spy’s identity was leaked to Russia by the UAE authorities. Claims about specific individuals often circulate on social media without substantiation.
