How Thousands of Secret Russian Documents Were Exposed
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- A security oversight on the Russian government human rights ombudsman’s website exposed thousands of sensitive complaints publicly, including those from Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
- The data leak was discovered when a person accidentally entered the wrong complaint number and accessed another individual’s complaint instead of an error message.
- The exposed information included medical records, passport details, contact information, and accounts of abuse and coercion within the Russian military.
- The complaints were publicly accessible from April to September 2025, following an IT system update by the ombudsman’s office, which ceased after realizing the error.
- Journalist Maxim Kurnikov, who now operates from Berlin, compiled over 9,000 complaints during this period and highlighted the significant public