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Top brass dismisses Western media’s alleged ‘leaks’ on Russian special forces in Egypt

Western media outlets have been stirring up the public with such info leaks from anonymous sources for a while, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman said

© Russian Defense Ministry Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. There are no Russian special forces in Egypt, Russia’s Defense Ministry Spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said on Tuesday.

Reuters reported earlier, citing diplomatic sources that Russia appeared to have deployed a 22-member Russian special forces unit to an airbase at Sidi Barrani in western Egypt near the border with Libya. The agency’s sources also claimed that Russia had used another Egyptian base farther east in Marsa Matrouh in early February.

The Defense Ministry’s spokesman thus commented on media reports on the alleged deployment Russian special forces in Egypt on the border with Libya.
"There are no Russian special operations units in Sidi Barrani [the Arab Republic of Egypt]," the spokesman said.

"Western media outlets have been stirring up the public with such info leaks from anonymous sources for a while. Such ‘insights’ especially frequently visit anonymous sources in Ukraine and the Baltic states. And the words by Reuters about the US intelligence services, citing the same source saying that ‘US intelligence on Russian military activities is often complicated by its use of contractors or forces without uniforms looks especially silly and ridiculous," the spokesman asserted.

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