Reuters / GLEB GARANICH
KEY POINTS
- Sisi allegedly instructed officials to secretly carry out the mass production and shipment of rockets
- An Egyptian official denied any such collaboration with Russia
- The White House said it has not seen indications that Egypt is providing deadly arms to Russia
The Egyptian government planned to secretly send tens of thousands of rockets to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine, according to leaked Pentagon documents.
A portion of the top-secret document, which first made rounds on Discord last week, contained a summary of purported conversations between Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials. In those conversations, Sisi allegedly instructed officials to produce and ship up to 40,000 rockets and gunpowder to Russia.
In one document, Sisi also allegedly instructed officials to keep the mass production of the weapons and the shipments a secret “to avoid problems with the West,” according to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the leaked classified files.
The International Business Times has not seen the document the Washington Post cited and could not independently verify its authenticity.
In response, an Egyptian official denied any such collaboration with Russia and called the Post’s report “informational absurdity.” The official, whose statement was reported by several Egyptian state-affiliated media outlets, also said that Egypt follows a “balanced policy” with all foreign parties.
The White House also responded to the report, saying it has not seen any indication that Egypt is providing deadly weapons to Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
“We’ve seen no indication that Egypt is providing lethal weapons capabilities to Russia,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One, as quoted by CNN. “The United States military has a longstanding defense relationship with Egypt that goes back many, many years.”
Egypt has been a longtime ally of the United States. It is also one of the top recipients of military aid from Washington, receiving about $1.3 billion annually. However, it has also been working to deepen its relations with Moscow under Sisi’s administration, the outlet noted.
The highly classified Pentagon documents leaked on Discord last week and were subsequently shared across Telegram and Twitter. Many of the documents were verified by U.S. officials as authentic. However, they also said that some of the papers were altered or used as part of a disinformation campaign.
