Kremlin Condemns Sinai Crash Cartoons As ‘Blasphemy’

In the other cartoon, which is in color, a skull is shown in the foreground with scattered body parts while a plane is pictured burning in the background.

The caption reads: “Islamic State: Russian aviation intensifies its bombardment”.

The other shows a victim’s skull with the words: “The dangers of low-priced Russia”.

The Kremlin spokesman called the cartoons “unacceptable” but said Russian Federation would not make an official complaint.

Gerard Briar, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, defended the publication, telling a Russian-language French radio station: “We are a secular, democratic and atheist newspaper”.

Charlie Hebdo made a name for itself worldwide by choosing to publish cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed, which lead to protests in Muslim countries around the world.

Writing on Twitter, the lower house of parliament’s global affairs chief Alexei Pushkov asked: “Is there any limit to Russophobia on the pages of Western media?”

The cartoons were published in the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo and quickly drew angry reactions from Russians on social media, with the head of the Rodina Party calling the cartoons “Russophobic art”.

State Duma speaker Ivan Melnikov described the cartoons as “dirty mockery” and the product of “outrageous cynicism”, the Interfax news agency reported Friday.

“Is anyone else “Charlie”?” asked foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Facebook, referring to the message “Je Suis Charlie” circulated by the magazine’s supporters after the massacre.

Both United Kingdom and USA authorities have said they suspect a bomb was responsible for the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on Saturday.

“The caricatures are overgrowing the boundaries of French journalism. And we respect the values of democracy and freedom of expression which the Russian powers that be in this case do not”, he added.

On October 31, the Airbus A321 crashed en route from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to the Russian city of St. Petersburg.