British officials' blunder as Ministry of Defence staff accidentally send confidential information to Russian ally
28 July 2023, 08:14
Officials in the British Ministry of Defence sent confidential information to a Russian ally by mistake.
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The ministry has launched an investigation into the embarrassing slip-up, which it said involved a small amount of emails, none of which contained anything that could "compromise operational security", sent to Mali, the west African country.
The error came because officials sent emails to an address with a '.ml' domain, which belongs to Mali, rather than a '.mil', which is for the US military.
Mali was one of the six African countries promised free grain shipments by Russian President Vladimir Putin after the collapse of the Black Sea deal with Ukraine.
The Wagner group of Russian mercenaries have also been deployed in Mali to fight alongside the army against jihadists.
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The US made a similar error last week, sending millions of military emails to Mali.
The British blunder is said to have been much smaller.
An MoD spokesman said: "We have opened an investigation after a small number of emails were mistakenly forwarded to an incorrect email domain.
"We are confident they did not contain any information that could compromise operational security or technical data.
"All sensitive information is shared on systems designed to minimise the risk of misdirection.
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"The MoD constantly reviews its processes and is currently undertaking a programme of work to improve information management, data loss prevention, and the control of sensitive information."
The emails mistakenly sent to Mali by the US are believed to contain sensitive information, including the passwords, medical records and itineraries of senior officers.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that Mali's defence minister, air force chief and deputy chief of staff wouldcome under sanctions for helping Wagner operate in their country.
