Classified UK defence ministry documents found at bus stop

London, Jun 27 (PTI): Classified documents from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) containing secret information about a warship and the British military was discovered at a bus stop in south-eastern England, according to a media report on Sunday.
The MoD said an employee reported the loss of the documents last week, which were discovered by a member of the public in a soggy heap behind a bus stop in Kent early on Tuesday morning, the BBC report said.
One set of documents reportedly discusses the likely Russian reaction to HMS Defender’s passage through Ukrainian waters off the Crimea coast on Wednesday and another lays out plans for a possible UK military presence in Afghanistan after the US-led NATO operation there ends this year.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further,” an MoD spokesperson said, as it was confirmed an investigation has been launched into the incident.
A member of the public, who wishes to remain anonymous, found the 50-odd pages of documents and contacted the BBC when he realised the sensitive nature of the contents. The BBC believes the documents, which include emails and PowerPoint presentations, originated in the office of a senior official at the MoD.
The documents relating to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer, HMS Defender, show that a mission described by the MoD as an “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters”, with guns covered and the ship’s helicopter stowed in its hangar, was conducted in the expectation that Russia might respond aggressively.
On Wednesday, more than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships shadowed the warship as it sailed about 19-km off Crimea’s coast. Moscow’s defence ministry said a patrol ship fired warning shots and a jet dropped bombs in the destroyer’s path but the UK government rejected this account, denying any warning shots had been fired.