Plane Crash Was A ‘Terrorist Act,’ Russian Officials Say

Following a recommendation from the security service, Russian Federation banned all flights to Egypt and began evacuating its citizens from the country.

“According to our experts, a homemade explosive device equivalent to 1 kilogram (about 1.6 pounds) of TNT went off onboard, which caused the plane to break up in the air, which explains why the fuselage was scattered over such a large territory”.

“Seventeen people are being held; two of them are suspected of helping whoever planted the bomb on the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh airport”, said one of the security officials, both of whom declined to be named.

Hollande has said the victims came from at least 19 nations, and the global community, led by the USA and Russian Federation, must overcome their deep-seated divisions over Syria to destroy IS on its home turf. Russian officials originally scoffed at the idea that a bomb may have gotten on the plane.

Egypt had previously lashed out at the United Kingdom for asserting publicly that an explosive might have downed the plane, citing the announcement could be devastating for its economy that relies heavily on foreigners for tourism revenues and has been hit hard in recent years of political unrest.

He vowed to step up military strikes in Syria to punish those who carried out “one of the bloodiest crimes” against Russians.

“Our air operation in Syria will not just continue – it must be strengthened so the criminals understand retribution is imminent”, Putin said, according to the Kremlin’s statement. We will find them everywhere, where they have hidden themselves. “We will find them in any part of the world and punish them”.

Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh following a Cabinet meeting there, Ismail said Egypt would “bear in mind” the Russian conclusion.

Moscow on Tuesday for the first time sent its powerful long-range bombers to strike ISIS targets in the provinces around the jihadist strongholds of Raqa and Deir Ezzor and to fire cruise missiles at Idlib and Aleppo regions.

President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian Defence Ministry’s command centre on Tuesday evening and told his military to cooperate with France.

In Egypt, the Washington Post reports authorities have arrested two employees from Sharm el-Sheikh global Airport in connection with the terrorist attacks, but RT.com claims that report may not be 100 percent accurate.

The Russian Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday that traces of explosives were found among the debris, after weeks of speculation about what had caused the crash that killed 224 people. Instead, attackers were able to slaughter more than 200 Russian tourists.

Mr Putin was speaking after separate meetings at the G20 summit in Turkey, with US President Barack Obama on Sunday, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday.

Commenting later on the G20 talks, Mr Cameron said everybody recognised the need for compromise and Russian opinion was changing.