RUSSIA TWITS UK OVER SECRET DEFENSE PAPERS FOUND AT BUS STOP

Classified documents from Britain's defense ministry containing details about a British warship and Russia's potential reaction to its passage through the Black Sea have been found at a bus stop in southern England, the BBC reported.

BBC said the documents, almost 50 pages in all, were found "in a soggy heap behind a bus stop in Kent early on Tuesday morning" by a member of the public, who wanted to remain anonymous.

The Ministry of Defense, Elizabeth Piper wrote for Reuters on June 28, 2021, said it had been informed last week of "an incident in which sensitive defense papers were recovered by a member of the public."

It added: "The department takes the security of information extremely seriously and an investigation has been launched. The employee concerned reported the loss at the time. It would be inappropriate to comment further."

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova mocked the British government on social media channel Telegram, saying: "London has used a number of lies to cover up the latest provocation. 007 (James Bond) is no longer the same."

Zakharova added: "And now a riddle-like question for the British parliament, why do we need 'Russian hackers' if there are British bus stops?" Britain's main opposition Labor Party said the discovery of the documents by a member of the public was "as embarrassing as it is worrying for ministers."

Labor's defense policy chief John Healey said ministers needed to confirm that national security had not been undermined or security operations affected and that "procedures are in place to ensure nothing like this happens again."

The BBC reported that the documents, which included emails and PowerPoint presentations, related to the British warship Defender, which this month sailed through waters off the Crimean peninsula, a region Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

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