"Egypt Orders Secret Support of 40,000 Rockets to Russia"... Leaked Through Classified Documents

Controversy has arisen over the content of a document presumed to be a classified U.S. Department of Defense file that recently spread through social networking services (SNS), which included claims that Egypt, a U.S. ally in the Middle East, secretly attempted to supply rockets to Russia. While U.S. and Egyptian authorities have denied the claims, the fallout from the leak of the classified document is expected to continue for some time, potentially damaging relations with allied countries.

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On the 10th (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported that the presumed classified U.S. Department of Defense document, which rapidly circulated on SNS platforms such as Discord and Twitter, revealed that Egypt attempted to secretly supply weapons to Russia.

According to WP, the document dated February 17 summarizes a conversation between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officers. The document states that President el-Sisi instructed Egyptian military officers to supply 40,000 rocket launchers to Russia. WP also reported that el-Sisi mentioned supporting the provision of artillery shells and gunpowder.

WP emphasized, "According to the document, President el-Sisi also instructed that the production of the rockets and their export to Russia be kept secret to avoid problems with Western countries." If true, this would mean that Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, attempted to directly support Russia's war in Ukraine.

Egyptian authorities immediately denied the claims. Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to questions about the document by stating, "Egypt maintains from the beginning a position of non-involvement in the Ukraine war and equal distance from both sides, reaffirming its support for international law as reflected in the UN Charter and UN General Assembly resolutions."

U.S. authorities also stated that they could not confirm whether Egypt actually supplied artillery shells. WP quoted an anonymous U.S. official as saying, "We do not know if Egypt’s plan was executed. We have not seen any evidence that such a thing happened."

Even if the claims are not true, the mere suggestion of such circumstances is expected to significantly impact mutual trust between the U.S. and its allies. Sarah Margon, Director of U.S. Foreign Policy at the Open Society Foundations, said, "Egypt is one of the United States’ longstanding allies in the Middle East. If Egypt’s plan is true, we need to seriously reconsider our relationship."

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