Russian Airliner brought down by Bomb: FSB Chief Bortnikov

November 17th, 2015

Awake Goy

nsnbc : The Russian Kogalmavia (Metrojet) Airbus 321 on Flight KGL9268 that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula on October 31 was blown up by a homemade explosive device, said the Chief of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov.

Photo courtesy of Tass, Maxim Grygoriev.

The FSB Chief told the press that it can be unambiguously said that the airliner crashed as a result of a terrorist act. The homemade explosive device reportedly had the explosive power equivalent to 1 kg TNT. The Russian State news agency Tass quotes Alexander Bortnikov as saying that a foreign-made explosive was found in the airliner debris and the passenger’ belongings. The FSB Chief added:

“In the estimates of our specialists, a self-made explosive device with its power of up to 1 kilogram in TNT equivalent went off aboard the airliner, due to which the plane broke up in the air and this explains the spread of the plane’s fuselage parts over a large distance”.

The FSB istated that the FSB and law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation are taking measures to detect the people involved in the crime and that Russia asks the international community to help solve the crime. The FSB has declared a $50-mln reward for information about those responsible for the plane crash.

Bortnikov’s statement comes only a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, announced that the investigation into the crash was in the final stages. Putin has ordered Russian security services to concentrate on the search of those involved in the terrorist act on board the Kogalmavia (Metrojet) Airbus 321 on Flight KGL9268.

It is noteworthy that the airliner was brought down about one month after the Russian Air Force launched its counter-terrorism air strikes in Syria.

All 224 passengers and crew on board the Airbus 321 perished in the crash. Tragically, there were at least 25 children on board. The majority of the victims were women. The airliner disappeared from radar about 23 minutes after takeoff from the Egyptian Red Sea holiday resort Sharm el-Sheikh. The plane broke up in midair. Most of the passengers were Russian while there also were four Ukrainian and one Belarus citizen on board.

Egyptian authorities stressed that a report issued by the Reuters news agency, according to which Egyptian authorities had detained two Egyptian nationals was false. nsnbc international encourages Russian and Egyptian authorities to make certified evidence from the investigation into the tragedy available to independent media.

CH/L – nsnbc 17.11.2015