In the entire history of domestic aviation, at least five cases of bomb explosions on board passenger airliners have been recorded. Three of them occurred in the USSR, two - in the post-Soviet period in Russia
1971 Explosion on board Tu-104 near Vnukovo airport
On October 10, 1971, the Tu-104B aircraft of the Borispol air squadron of the Ukrainian Civil Air Fleet Administration was supposed to perform two flights on the route Simferopol - Moscow - Simferopol. At 19:02, the plane successfully completed its flight to Moscow, landing at Vnukovo airport.
Immediately after landing, the crew began preparations for the return flight to Simferopol.
At 20:16, Flight 773 took off with 18 passengers and 7 crew members. However, just a minute later, the Tu-104 stopped responding to calls from dispatchers. At 20:17, the plane crashed to the ground near the village of Baranovo, Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow region, 10 kilometers southwest of Vnukovo. All 25 people on board were killed.
Aeroflot Tu-104B, similar to the one that crashed. Photo: Wikipedia
The investigation found that a few seconds after takeoff, an explosion occurred on board. It destroyed the left side of the fuselage and the load-bearing elements of the left wing, interrupted the thrust of the elevators and rudders. The luggage compartment of the liner that was losing altitude collapsed, part of the passenger seats were thrown out of the cabin. A few seconds later, the Tu-104 crashed to the ground.
Examination of the wreckage showed the presence of signs of combustion and TNT particles. The commission found that a bomb weighing 400-800 grams of TNT was hidden between the seat post and the wall.
The investigation could not establish who exactly was the organizer and perpetrator of the attack.
1973 Explosion of Tu-104 in Pulkovo
On April 23, 1973, the Tu-104 aircraft of the 1st Leningrad Squadron of the Northern Territorial Administration of the Civil Air Fleet was flying Flight 2450 on the Leningrad-Moscow route. At 14:25 Moscow time, the airliner with 51 passengers and 6 crew members took off from Pulkovo Airport.
After 9 minutes of flight, a 47-year-old passenger Ivan Bidyuk gave the flight attendant a letter for the pilots. The main thing in the confused text on four pages was the demand to change course and land in Stockholm. Otherwise, Bidyuk promised to blow up the plane.
Tu-104 Commander Vyacheslav Yanchenko gave a distress signal and decided to return to Pulkovo. Flight mechanic Vikenty Gryaznov, received a service weapon from the commander in order to neutralize the criminal, but it turned out that the bomb that the bandit held in his hands had a reverse action mechanism, that is, it worked when the button was released. Therefore, Gryaznov tried to calm the criminal, convincing him that the Tu-104 was already on its way to Stockholm. At the same time, the flight mechanic did not allow Bidyuk to enter the cockpit.
Tu-104 immediately after landing. Photo: Wikipedia
It was possible to deceive the terrorist right up to the time the plane landed at Pulkovo. Realizing that he was fooled, Bidyuk set off an explosive device. As a result of the explosion, the terrorist himself and the flight engineer Gryaznov died, the elevators and the hydraulic system were damaged. The nose landing gear was not fixed and folded during landing, so that the fuselage, after touching the ground with its nose, sank onto the runway and slid on the concrete. This caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished by ground services. As a result, there were no more deaths.
By a closed decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 6, 1973, Tu-104 commander Vyacheslav Yanchenko and the deceased flight engineer Vikenty Gryaznov were awarded the title "Hero of the Soviet Union" for their courage and heroism. The rest of the crew members were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner and the Red Star.
1973 Explosion of Tu-104 near Chita
On May 17, 1973, the Tu-104 aircraft of the Irkutsk air squadron of the East Siberian Civil Air Fleet took off from Moscow Domodedovo Airport, performing flight 109 Moscow - Chelyabinsk - Novosibirsk - Irkutsk - Chita. Departure from Moscow took place at 18:12. After intermediate landings in Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk, a crew change took place in Irkutsk. By the time of departure to Chita, there were 72 passengers (including 4 children) and 9 crew members on board.
Some time later, a danger signal was given from the Tu-104, and then the ship's commander reported that a request had been received from the cabin to change course.
Following this, a coded danger signal was again transmitted from the liner. Then the Tu-104 disappeared from the radar screens.
TU-104 is the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft. Photo: RIA Novosti
At 10:55 local time, the Mi-8 helicopter found the wreckage of the aircraft 97 kilometers west of Chita scattered strictly along the highway for 10 kilometers. All 9 crew members and 72 passengers were killed.
Witnesses testified that they observed the plane, which exploded in the air. After that, debris and people began to fall to the ground.
During the investigation, it was found that the attempted hijacking of the aircraft was committed by 32-year-old Chinggis Yunus-ogly Rzayev. A man who boarded in Irkutsk had an explosive device with a capacity of 5.5 - 6 kilograms of TNT. Rzayev demanded to change course and land in China.
The police officer accompanying the airliner tried to neutralize the terrorist Vladimir Ezhikov. The law enforcement officer fired at Rzaev, inflicting a mortal wound on him, but the dying criminal set off an explosive device.
2004 Explosion of Tu-134 over the Tula region
On August 24, 2004, at 22:30 Moscow time, a Tu-134 aircraft operated by Volga-Aviaexpress took off from Domodedovo Airport, performing flight 1303 on the Moscow-Volgograd route. On board were 34 passengers and 9 crew members.
At 22:54 there was a strong explosion in the tail section of the aircraft. The liner, torn into two parts, crashed to the ground from a height of 9500 meters. The wreckage of the Tu-134 fell 2 kilometers north locality Buchalki Kimovsky district Tula region. All 43 people on board were killed.
During the investigation, it was found that the explosion was carried out by a 30-year-old suicide bomber. Aminat Nagaeva.
2004 Explosion of Tu-154 over the Rostov region
On August 24, 2004, at 21:35 Moscow time, a Tupolev Tu-154 operated by Siberia Airlines took off from Domodedovo Airport, operating Flight 1047 on the Moscow-Sochi route. On board the airliner were 38 passengers and 8 crew members.
At 22:53 there was powerful explosion in the tail section. A hole formed in the board of the Tu-154, the drives and control wiring were broken, the tail section came off. The plane lost control and began to fall. The crew fought to the last, but at 22:55 the liner crashed near the village of Glubokiy, Kamensky district Rostov region and completely collapsed. Everyone on board was killed. Part of the wreckage of the Tu-154 fell on residential buildings, but no one was injured on the ground.
Flight recorders of the Tu-134 and Tu-154 aircraft that crashed on August 24, 2004. Photo: RIA Novosti
During the investigation, it was found that the attack was carried out by a 37-year-old female suicide bomber. Satsita Dzhebirkhanova.
Persons were identified, through whose fault the terrorists were able to get on board the aircraft. Militia Captain Mikhail Artamonov was sentenced to 7 years in prison, a ticket speculator Armen Harutyunyan and controller Nikolai Korenkov to one and a half years in prison.
The largest in the history of Russian and Soviet aviation The plane crash occurred on the morning of October 31 in the Sinai Peninsula. The plane "Kogalymavia", en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, crashed 23 minutes after takeoff. All 224 people on board were killed.
Responsibility for the crash of the A321 was twice claimed by the Islamic State, a terrorist organization banned in Russia. However, at first, the Ministry of Transport called this information unreliable. The Egyptian authorities also refused to recognize the version of the attack.
For the first time, the Western media began to report that a terrorist attack could have occurred on board the A321 shortly after the crash. The version of the attack was considered "very likely" by the US and British authorities, citing intelligence data. BBC -si, citing his sources, reported that the bomb could have been carried on board the aircraft immediately before its departure. The Sunday Times even called the explosion. According to the publication, he could be Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the local terrorist organization Sinai Province, which swore allegiance to the Islamic State.
A number of countries and airlines banned flights to Egypt three days after the crash, but Moscow made such a decision only on November 6. First, the Kremlin banned flights to Egypt with the fact that the priority version of the A321 crash is a terrorist attack. However, later, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the version of the attack is still.
On November 8, a member of the A321 crash investigation told Reuters that investigators were 90% sure that the sound recorded by the recorder in the last seconds of the flight was . The next day, US intelligence said that Russian officials, but so far Moscow has not named a single priority version.
Explosives with a capacity of up to 1 kg in TNT equivalent are more than enough to cause a plane crash, the director of the Scientific Center for Economic Monitoring, Analysis and Forecasting of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise State Research Institute told RBC civil aviation» Alexander Friedland. According to him, the design of the aircraft is a set of power elements and shells. If the tightness of these elements is violated, then the plane literally breaks, because in the cabin of the liner the pressure is both on the ground and discharged overboard. “That is, the plane explodes like a balloon,” Friedland said. In his opinion, the explosives could be located in the tail section of the aircraft, probably in the luggage compartment, since this part of the A321 landed separately from the rest of the wreckage.
20.44 The Federal Air Transport Agency, together with other departments, is developing a set of security measures to prevent acts of unlawful interference in the activities of airlines and airports both within the Russian Federation and abroad, according to a statement on the agency's website.
20.27 Limp Bizkit soloist Fred Durst will perform a song in memory of the victims of A321
20.15 Russia will search for those responsible for the A321 attack until all of them are identified and held accountable
0.02 The Belgian Foreign Ministry has not yet received an official request from the Russian authorities for assistance in the search for those involved in the A321 attack in Egypt
19.50 After the explosion of the A321 airliner " Russian Federation will act in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, which provides for the right of states to self-defense," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
19.34 The father of one of the passengers of the A321 crashed in Sinai: the organizers of the terrorist attack must be tortured for 224 days (this is how many passengers became victims of this attack on a Russian plane)
19.18 "Relations between Russia and Egypt will not suffer from this tragic incident," - Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said.
19.00 Moscow warns foreign partners that it has begun searching for the organizers and perpetrators of the terrorist attack on board the A321
18.48 “This barbaric attack on our citizens is considered by us in the context of a series of bloody terrorist attacks committed recently in Paris, Beirut, Iraq, Ankara, Egypt,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
18.32 Airbus did not comment on the conclusions of Russian experts in the investigation of the crash of the Airbus A321 airliner Kogalymavia
18.25 The OSCE Permanent Council condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris, against the Russian A321 and in Ankara
18.19 Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri discussed by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov the coordination of joint efforts to combat terrorism
18.02 Egyptian Interior Minister Magdi Abdel Ghafar said Sharm el-Sheikh airport staff are being "thoroughly checked." "Additional security measures are being taken to screen passengers at Egyptian airports," he added.
17.49 A video has been released of a suitcase that may have contained a bomb. The rescuer who participated in the search operation said that this suitcase was on fire, why - the investigators have to find out. reports LifeNews.
17.28 P The Prime Minister of Egypt said that Cairo will take into account the conclusions of Russia about the cause of the crash of the A321 in the investigation of the tragedy over Sinai.
We posted an online survey on the website on the topic "Do you believe that the terrorists who blew up the Russian plane in Egypt will be found and destroyed?"
17.11 There was information that one of the employees of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, who participated in the loading of luggage on the Russian board A321, received unknown suitcase from another employee. At the same time, the luggage was not scanned
17.06 Senator Yevgeny Bushmin said that the Federation Council will adopt a resolution on the fight against terrorism on November 18
16.58 The State Duma adopted a statement calling on the parliamentarians of European countries, North America, the Near and Middle East and other regions of the world to do everything in their power to create an international antiterrorist coalition.
16.35 Kadyrov proposed hang terrorists during arrest to drones and drop on the heads of accomplices.”"No court hearings are needed," he said. He wrote about this on his Instagram.
16.19 Ilyas Umakhanov, Vice Speaker of the Federation Council: “I have no doubts that the country’s leadership is taking all necessary measures and ensures coordination of the efforts of state authorities and institutions civil society in order to provide an imposed scenario for destabilizing the situation, undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and intimidating Russian citizens”
15.57 Alexei Martynov, director of the International Institute of Newest States, believes that the terrorist attack on the A321 was well prepared. "E this is not the level of bearded people with machine guns, who just yesterday ran through the desert. This is a serious level of special services,” he said in an interview with LifeNews.
15.43 The special services of Israel and Egypt can help in the search for ISIS terrorists (previously, it was this terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation that claimed responsibility for the attack). involved in the terrorist attack on the Russian A321 aircraft, RIA Novosti reports the assumption of the adviser to the director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, orientalist Elena Suponina.
15.18 The leader of the LDPR faction in the State Duma, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, promises to show a photo of the destroyed terrorists who staged the A321 attack: “Everyone should know this. We will then show photographs of the corpses of these people, ”the Zvezda quotes the politician.
15.12 President of the Russian International Law Association Anatoly Kapustin explained how countries should act on international law in relation to crimes of terrorism - the principle of Aut dedere aut judicare - "either judge or extradite" applies.
"Upon receipt of information about this, he must immediately use all available means to arrest, interrogate and investigate, and, if necessary, to extradite him to the state that makes the appropriate request."
If there is no agreement on the extradition of criminals between countries, then "the state itself must conduct an investigation to the end and bring the detainee to justice."
15.08 The suitcase with the bomb detonated when the plane was at an altitude of about nine thousand meters Lifenews, citing its sources.
14.32 G lava of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, in an interview with the RSN, called the terrorist attackand on board the Russian A321 a signal for all states, including European ones.
14.16 According to a source in the security authorities of the province of South Sinai, during the investigation into the crash of the Russian A321, 25 airport employees from different departments were interrogated. “Until now, the involvement of any of them has not been confirmed,” RIA Novosti quotes him.
14.02 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: “The barbaric designs of ISIS must be stopped. Our grief, our anger should help to cast aside everything secondary and unite Russia, France, all countries in a merciless fight against terrorism, indirectly forming a global militant coalition.
13.51 The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation also denied reports of the detention of employees of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
13.40 Explosive expert Vladimir Mikhailov told LifeNews that a bomb the size of a pack of cigarettes could blow up the A321: “If I place an explosive device the size of a cigarette pack somewhere in a suitcase that is surrounded on all sides by other suitcases, I can hardly destroy the plane. But if I I will do it next to the skin or near the fuselage, such a destructive effect is possible.First, a crack will go, and the liner will fall apart in the air"
Earlier it was reported that the bomb on board the A321 corresponded to a yield of 1.5 kg in TNT equivalent.
13.27 The Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs denied the information about the alleged detention in the Egyptian resort town Sharm el-Sheikh two suspects of involvement in the terrorist attack on board the Russian A321, writes TASS.
13.24 Oe ks-head of the FSB, member of the State Duma committee on security Nikolai Kovalev believes that the investigation of the A321 attack over Sinai is possible in cooperation with the intelligence services of foreign countries.
13.17 Updated the list of countries, when flying to which Russian airlines were recommended to strengthen security measures. The list includes 47 states, Interfax reports: from the countries of the post-Soviet space, these are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Almost everything on the list European states: Austria, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania, Portugal, France, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia. Cyprus also appears there. In addition, the United States and Thailand are separately designated. Naturally, the list includes such countries as Algeria, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
13.12 Rosaviatsiya reports that on November 10, it sent a telegram to the heads of airports and airlines, in which it ordered to strengthen security measures in connection with real threats of acts of unlawful interference (UA) in air transport. The document, in particular, prescribes to pay attention to the selection in the recruitment of technical staff.
13.08 First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich admits that the Federal Air Transport Agency, for security reasons, will decide to stop flights to countries whose airport security level is questionable.
Cause of the plane crash Russian aircraft A321 "Kogalymavia" in the sky over Egypt recognized as a terrorist attack. As the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday evening, examinations showed that a bomb with a capacity of approximately 1.5 kg of TNT exploded on board right in flight. The President said that this crime must be punished and promised to find the terrorists "anywhere in the world."
In less than six months, the Middle East, which is today the most unstable and “hottest” region in the world, saw two major terrorist attacks passenger airliners. One of them is Russian. It seems that the terrorists of radical Islamic groups have relied on an attack against civil aviation.
The autumn of 2015 was overshadowed for Russia by the largest aerial terrorist attack in the history of the country's civil aviation: on October 31, 2015, a Kagalymavia aircraft was blown up in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula over the territory of Egypt. 214 people died. And now - exactly six months later - a new terrorist attack in the same region. On May 19, an EgyptAir Airbus A320 was most likely destroyed over mediterranean sea. There were 66 people on board.
The Russian aircraft was chartered flight 7K-9268 on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg. The plane of the Egyptian company - flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo. With the aircraft of the Egyptian company, not everything is clear yet. It simply disappeared from the radar screens, communication with it was lost, and for a long time nothing was known about the fate of the liner.
However, the wreckage of the missing Airbus was later found in the Mediterranean Sea south of Greek island Karpathos in the southeast Aegean Sea. It became clear that if the terrorist attack is not the only version of the disaster, then it is clearly the main one.
On both sides, most of the passengers were tourists flying to rest in the resorts of Egypt or returning from there. And here are two major terrorist attacks in a fairly short time. And the goal of the terrorists has been achieved. A stunning blow has been dealt to the Egyptian economy, for which today, in the current crisis and politically unstable state, tourism is almost the only source of income. In addition, these incidents caused a serious resonance around the world.
Airplanes are not a random choice for terrorists around the world. The main weapon of terrorists is not explosives at all. Main weapon: maximum publicity, panic and fear. And civil aviation is the most convenient tool. The attack is directed not only at people who are on board the aircraft being destroyed by terrorists. But also on their family members, on all those for whom a catastrophe in the sky will not be just a line in newspaper reports. And it will be something personal and close.
Moreover, despite the fact that aviation is not the most dangerous view transport is just a common myth, disasters on railway much more frequent - counteracting terrorist attacks in aviation is very difficult. Security measures at airports are already close to the absurd limit, soon, due to checks, you will have to arrive at the airport 4-5 hours before the flight in order to pass all the necessary checkpoints. But even this does not provide complete security. Aviation is the most vulnerable of all modes of transport.
In addition, the destruction of an aircraft at an altitude of up to 10 kilometers at a speed of at least 600 kilometers per hour leaves no chance for anyone on board. Their death is almost inevitable. And the number of victims each time goes to tens, or even hundreds of people.
We will recall the largest terrorist attacks in the air that occurred in the last quarter of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
September 11, 2001 attack in the United States
This is the most famous and largest and, perhaps, the most effective terrorist attack in the history of mankind, unless, of course, the tragedies of Guernica, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are included in the terrorist attacks (and this would be logical).
On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists hijacked four airliners at once and used them as air fire-ships. In the navy, fireships are ships designed to ram and blow up enemy ships. The terrorists used civilian aircraft in exactly the same way, attacking several targets in the United States.
This attack leaves many questions. Although al-Qaeda 1 , an ultra-terrorist Wahhabi Islamic organization and its leader, claimed responsibility for the attack Osama bin Laden, many questions remain as to who organized this attack and why.
Objects and results of the attack:
NY
1) American Airlines Flight 11, Boeing 767-200. Crashed into the north side of the north tower (WTC-1) at the level of 94-98 floors.
2) United Airlines Flight 175, Boeing 767-200. Crashed into the south side of the south tower (WTC-2) at the level of 78-85 floors.
Victims: 60 passengers and crew members, more than 600 people, who were on the upper floors of the south tower of the World Trade Center.
A total of 2,753 people died in New York.
Pentagon
3) American Airlines Flight 77, Boeing 757-200. Crashed into the building of the headquarters of the US Department of Defense Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
Victims: 125 people on the ground and 59 passengers and crew members.
Pennsylvania
United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757-200 ( tail number N591UA). Fell on a field near the town of Shanksville in southwestern Pennsylvania, not reaching 240 km from Washington, which was the target of terrorists.
Victims: 40 people.
Ireland, June 23, 1985
The largest plane crash in neutral waters, the first terrorist attack on Boeing-747 aircraft and the largest terrorist attack in Canadian history. Then Sikh terrorists, fighting against the Indian authorities for secession of their region, blown up in the air over the Atlantic an Indian civilian airliner Boeing-747 of AirIndia, flying along the Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay route.
Objects and results of the attack: flight AI182 AirIndia Boeing 747-237B. An internal explosion and complete destruction of an airliner in the air off the coast of Ireland, 70 kilometers from the Irish city of Cork.
Victims: 329 passengers and crew.
Scotland, December 21, 1988
It was the largest terrorist attack on the territory of Britain. Over the Scottish city of Lockerbie, a Boeing-747 airliner flying on the London-New York route was blown up in the air. Not only the passengers and crew of the aircraft were killed, but also people on the ground. The wreckage of the plane crashed right into the residential areas of Lockerbie.
The United States and Britain immediately blamed the Libyan intelligence services for the attack, and the Libyan leader was personally responsible for the attack. Muammar Gadaffi. This version was later called into question.
Objects and result of the attack: flight PA103 Pan American Boeing 747-121. An internal explosion that completely destroyed the airliner mid-air, debris falling within the city limits of Lockerbie.
Victims: 259 passengers and crew and 11 Lockerbie residents.
Sahara, Tenere Desert, September 19, 1989
The largest aerial terrorist attack in Central Africa and the continuation of the history of confrontation between the intelligence services of the West and the Libyan authorities. The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 liner of the French airline Union de transports aériens (UTA), flying on the route Brazzaville-Ndjamena-Paris, was blown up over the Tenere desert in Nigeria, near the city of Bilma.
Once again, the Libyan intelligence services were blamed. And again, no one has proven anything.
Objects and result of the attack: flight UT-772 UTA aircraft McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30. Internal explosion and complete destruction of the aircraft. The wreckage fell in the desert area of Tenere.
Victims: 170 passengers and crew.
Egypt, Sinai Peninsula, October 31, 2015
The largest terrorist attack over the territory of Egypt and in the history of Russian civil aviation. As a result of the carelessness of the employees of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, the terrorists of the Sinai unit of the Islamic State 1 (IS 1) terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation managed to carry explosives on board the Russian aircraft. As a result, the Airbus A321-231 Russian airline Metrojet ("Kogalymavia"), en route from Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) to St. Petersburg, was blown up in the north Sinai Peninsula 100 km from the city of El Arish.
Objects and result of the attack: flight 9268 Airbus A321-231 Metrojet (Kogalymavia). Internal, an explosion that completely destroyed the aircraft.
Victims: 224 passengers and crew.
Every year the danger of terrorist attacks increases. And it is worth hoping that Russia's participation in the fight against world terrorism will finally stop this alarming trend.
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1 The organization is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.
. “The study of personal belongings and elements of the aircraft, as well as the examination revealed traces of explosives on the A321,” the head of the FSB said.
“According to our experts, an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg of TNT went off on board the aircraft in flight, as a result of which the aircraft “collapsed” in the air, which explains the dispersion of parts of the aircraft fuselage over a long distance,” Bortnikov said.
The head of the FSB reported on the attack to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of the country promised to find and punish the terrorists who blew up the Russian airliner A321 anywhere in the world.
Speaking at a meeting on the results of the investigation into the causes of the plane crash in the sky over Sinai, Putin said that he was counting on the assistance of other countries in finding and punishing the perpetrators. According to the President, he must apply for such assistance.
Putin also promised that all accomplices of the terrorists would be brought to justice. “Anyone who tries to assist the criminals should know that the consequences of such harboring attempts will rest entirely on their shoulders,” Putin said. “I ask all of our special services to focus on this work.”
Two suspects have already been detained, according to Egyptian law enforcement sources. It is indicated that these are two employees of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport. According to preliminary data, they are suspected of helping terrorists who planted a bomb on board the plane.
Against the backdrop of confirmation of data on the attack on board the A321 aircraft, Russia will increase its strikes on militants in Syria.
“Our combat aviation work in Syria should not just be continued. It must be strengthened in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable,” Putin said, stressing that he would personally “check how the work is going.”
The Russian authorities also promised $50 million for information about the terrorists involved in the attack on board the crashed A321 aircraft. “The Federal Security Service is appealing to the Russian and international community for assistance in identifying terrorists. For providing information that contributes to the arrest of criminals, a reward in the amount of $50 million will be paid,” the FSB said.
“The Federal Security Service is taking measures to search for persons involved in this crime,” the department added.
For experts, the confirmation of the version of the terrorist attack on the A321 aircraft did not come as a surprise. According to the pilot, hero of Russia Anatoly Knyshev, immediately after the bomb went off, the plane fell apart: the crew and passengers died within 1-2 seconds: “There was an explosive decompression - instant destruction, everyone on board died. That is why there was no report to the dispatch service about the emergency, - Knyshev shared in an interview with Gazeta.Ru.
“One kilogram of TNT is a very powerful charge, the plane was practically torn to pieces,” a test pilot who participated in the investigation of military aircraft crashes told Gazeta.Ru. “That is why the satellite detected the thermal flash that the Americans were talking about.” The fact that a bomb exploded on board the aircraft was also evidenced by the nature and analysis of the wreckage over a large area.
According to Gusev, the statements of Putin and the head of the FSB followed only today, not only because of the political situation, but also because of the investigation conducted by Russian counterintelligence officers: “Most likely, the names of those who ordered the terrorist attack are already known, and therefore a reward is being announced for their capture.” .
In addition, the expert believes that they did not want to announce the results of the examinations until the end of the G20 summit.
Just the day before, the UK confirmed the version of the attack on board the A321, and last week the media reported that the plane had a timer set for two hours. In London, it is suggested that the organizer of the explosion could be Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the Vilayat Sinai group, which is considered (the organization is banned in Russia).
Earlier, the Kremlin was in no hurry to officially call the incident a terrorist attack, calling for "carefully filtering" all data on the investigation into the causes of the A321 crash in Egypt and not responding to anonymous "stuffing". The Prime Minister stated that, as one of the possible causes The crash of a Russian plane is considered a terrorist attack. Prior to this, the Russian authorities rejected the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner.
The crash of the A321 airliner in Egypt was the largest terrorist attack against Russian citizens in terms of the number of victims since 2004, when a school in Beslan was seized. As a result of the crash of a plane flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, 224 people were killed. When the terrorists seized the Beslan school in 2004, 334 people died.
In addition, the Russian plane crash was the largest aviation-related terrorist attack since September 11, 2001, when about 3,000 people died as a result of terrorist actions in the United States.
