"During the Suez Crisis, the Soviet Union played a key role in strengthening the Egyptian army. ... It was Soviet military aid that enabled Egypt to win the war of October 6, 1973," writes the eminent Egyptian publicist Mohammed Heikal in his book "For Egypt, Not for Nasser".
Heikal's works are of particular value for understanding the personal aspect of Soviet-Egyptian relations, allowing us to reconstruct a true picture of bilateral cooperation. As Kazan Technological University researcher Abdel Wahed Essam Abdallah Mahmud notes, Heikal can rightfully be placed on a par with such chroniclers of Egyptian history as Manetho, Al-Maqrizi, or Abdurrahman al- Jabarti.
Mohammed Hasanain Heikal, born in 1923 in a village in northern Egypt, was already awarded the prestigious King Farouk Prize in the Arab Journalism category in 1947. His professional development took place in hot spots: the civil war in Greece, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Korean War, the coups in Iran and Syria... A close friendship with the first president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, numerous foreign trips, and direct participation in the political life of the Arab world formed Heikal as the most authoritative reporter and analyst of his time.
Professor of the Peoples' Friendship University Alexey Malakhovsky emphasizes that it was precisely cooperation with Nasser, support for his bold initiatives, combined with an excellent education, hard work, and political intuition, that made Heikal the unique journalist he is known as.
Of particular interest is Heikal's account of Nasser's secret visit to Moscow in 1970, as set out in his book «The Road to Ramadan». At the time, Heikal was the editor-in-chief of the «Al-Ahram» newspaper. Thanks to the translation by Vladimir Belyakov, the editor-in-chief of the «Eastern Archives» magazine, these materials have become available to Russian-speaking readers.
"Nasser began the meeting by explaining the reasons for his visit. The fate of the entire Middle East, he said, is being decided on a thirty-kilometer strip on both sides of the Suez Canal... To counter Israeli air supremacy, Egypt urgently needs air defense," Heikal quotes the Egyptian leader as saying, noting his outward confidence and inner tension.
The problem was that the previously delivered Soviet anti-aircraft systems "Dvina" (SAM-2) were ineffective against low-flying targets. Nasser also emphasized the strategic importance of Alexandria - the last working port of Egypt after the blockade of Port Said and the closure of the Red Sea.
"The discussion became heated at times, and it seemed that the negotiations would reach a dead end," writes Heikal. However, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev agreed that the new SAM-3 systems would solve the problem: "Our friend Nasser always gets what he wants."
The next day, Egypt's Defense Minister, General Mohamed Fawzi, presented the president with a long list of sites that needed to be protected. It became obvious that the Egyptian army did not have the necessary number of trained anti-aircraft gunners. "It seems that this is when Nasser came up with a new plan," Heikal notes.
When it became clear that retraining Egyptian crews would take six months, during which time the country would remain defenseless against Israeli airstrikes, Nasser made an unexpected move: “The only solution is to send Soviet crews to Egypt,” Heikal quotes him as saying.
The Egyptian president emphasized: "The fate of the entire Arab world is at stake." He proposed placing Soviet units in the rear, not on the front lines. When Brezhnev spoke about the need for air cover, Nasser immediately retorted: "Then send planes too." In response to the general secretary's concerns about the deterioration of relations with the United States, the Egyptian leader asked: "Why do we sometimes act as if we are scared?" "We are not afraid of anyone," Brezhnev interrupted.
"...If Egypt yields to the American-Israeli force, then the entire Arab world will fall. We are not asking you to fight for us, we want to preserve our independence. But I see that you are not ready to help us the way America helps Israel..." Nasser's speech was a turning point.
"...The army is abandoned to its fate, and the people are defenseless. I have the right to tell people the unpleasant truth - whether they like it or not, the Americans own the world. I am not going to surrender to the Americans. Someone else will take my place and do it." In response to the emotional speech of the Egyptian president, the Soviet leaders proposed a break for discussion.
"Are we on the brink?" Heikal asked Nasser as the Egyptian delegation walked out into the street.
"That is my firm conviction," the president replied. "I would be deceiving the people if I did otherwise. The Israelis are using tactics that we cannot counter - raids in depth, raids on civilians. When children are killed and soldiers are killed because they have no protection, the situation changes completely."
The Soviet delegation made a historic decision. In addition to the SAM-3 anti-aircraft systems with crews, 80 combat aircraft were sent to Egypt, including four supersonic MiG-25s, and almost two thousand Egyptian military personnel were sent to the USSR for training.
Heikal notes, the first clash between Soviet and Israeli pilots occurred in April near the city of Sukhna. “The Russian radio communications certainly violated secrecy, but perhaps this was a deliberate signal to the United States,” the author speculates. After this incident, Israeli raids deep into Egyptian territory ceased.
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