At least 40 thousand rockets secretly produced in Egypt and sent to Russia. This is the latest revelation of the Washington Post, which released the contents of a top secret US intelligence document. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, one of the United States‘ closest allies in the Middle East and a major recipient of American aid, recently ordered his subordinates to secretly produce up to 40,000 rockets to be sent to Russia. The secret document, obtained by the Washington Post via Discord, an app popular with gamers, talks about alleged conversations between al-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials and refers to plans to supply Russia artillery shells and gunpowder. The document highlights that last February al-Sisi ordered officials to maintain secret the production and shipment of rockets “for avoid problems with the West“. A news denied by Moscow, with the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, who defines “false” the rumors: “It seems that this is another false story, which we often deal with recently. That’s how we should treat such news.”
Also according to the leaked, classified document dated February 17, the Egyptian leader asks a person identified only as Salah al-Din to inform the factory workers that the shells are intended for the Egyptian army. Salah al-Din is probably Mohamed Salah al-Dinthe state minister for Military productionwho replies that he would “order his people to work in shifts if necessary because it was the least Egypt could do to repay Russia for help not specified above”.
The gunpowder offer to Russia would be produced by Factory 18, which is the name of an old chemical production plant. The document also mentions i Sacred 45, but it is not explicitly stated whether these rockets, which are compatible with Grad multiple rocket launchers, are being produced for Russia. “Egypt’s position from the outset has been based on non-involvement in this crisis and a commitment to remain equidistant from the parties, while affirming support for Charter of the United Nations and to international law according to the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly“said the Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zeid, regarding the document and the veracity of the reported conversations. “We continue to urge both sides to cease hostilities and reach a political solution through negotiations,” she added. An official of the US governmentspeaking on condition of anonymity regarding the alleged Egyptian initiative to export rockets to Russia, explained that “we have not seen that happen” and “we are not aware of the execution of this plan”. Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singhhe specified that the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the leak of confidential documents.
The document does not explicitly clarify why Russia is interested in acquiring the rockets, but in all likelihood this would be due to the need to deal with the huge quantities of munitions used in Ukraine. According to the US government, the North Korea is secretly supplying to Russia artillery shells and China is considering doing the same. Moscow and Cairo have recently signed several significant agreements. Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned Atomic Energy Corporation, began construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant last year. But perhaps most importantly, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine which hampered access to Ukrainian grain, Cairo started to rely heavily on purchases of Russian grain. The deal has helped Egypt avoid grain shortages that could spark social unrest in a country where poverty is rife.
In response to questions about the document and the veracity of the conversations described, the ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeida spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, stated that “Egypt’s position from the beginning was based on the non-involvement in the crisis in Ukraine and on a commitment to maintain a fair distance on both sides, while affirming Egypt’s support for the United Nations Charter and international law in UN General Assembly resolutions.”