The horrific crash of A321 over the Sinai Peninsula, which occurred in the fall of 2015, still excites the world community. A terrible tragedy befell an air transport carrying 224 passengers belonging to an airline called Kogalymavia.

The cause of the plane crash, which took the lives of everyone on board, according to one version, was labeled as a terrorist attack. Let's try to remember how the investigation took place, as well as what facts the experts were able to confirm.

An air transport belonging to the Kogalymavia airline, flying to St. Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, suffered a terrible crash, having been in the air for only 20 minutes. The Kogalymavia disaster occurred near the Sinai Peninsula. Most of the passengers were citizens of the Russian Federation.

Deviations from normal movement became noticeable even at an altitude of 9411 meters. At that time, the airliner maintained a speed of 755 km/h. The plane crashed to the ground at 6:14 local time from a height of 8512 meters at a speed of 115 km/h. As a result of the impact, the plane was completely destroyed.

The remains of the airliner and the bodies of the people on board were discovered in the center of the peninsula between El Qantala and El Laxima. The crash occurred 50 km from the city of Nekhel.

The debris was scattered over an area of ​​about 30 km.

Also on board the air transport were three citizens of Ukraine and one Belarusian. As previously noted, no one managed to survive the terrible tragedy, so the plane crash over the Sinai was noted as the largest that took place in Russian and Soviet aviation.

As soon as it became known about the tragedy, the Russian Investigative Committee immediately opened 2 criminal cases into the tragedy. Representatives of the Investigative Committee, conducting the initial investigation, noted 2 versions that could have caused the crash of the airbus:

• technical malfunction of the aircraft;
• incorrect actions taken by the crew.

Cause of the tragedy

Responsibility for the tragic incident was almost immediately claimed by militants belonging to the terrorist organization of the Islamic State. However, this reason was considered by both representatives of Rosaviatsia and the Russian Ministry of Transport as unreliable.

The President of Russia made a comment regarding the crash 55 hours later, offering sincere condolences to the loved ones of the victims and noting that the investigation into the crash will continue in full. The involvement of a terrorist organization was noted in a statement by Alexander Bortnikov, who served as head of the FSB.

Bortnikov noted that it is quite possible that the cause of the crash was the explosion of a bomb that terrorists smuggled on board unnoticed. Soon, one of the representatives of the Russian Ministry came up with a new version regarding the organization of the terrorist attack. The report noted that the militants could have detonated a bomb on board due to revenge on the Russian side, which was actively involved in the fight against terrorist organizations.

About a month after the crash, in one of the circulation publications, representatives of the Islamic State published photographs of the bomb that was used to blow up the airbus. The militants independently created a demolition mechanism from a tin can, equipping it with a metal cylinder and a remote control.

Egyptian military units were able to detain one of the IS leaders in the summer of 2016. Around the same time, another militant leader in Syria was eliminated. And the leader of the terrorist group Al-Adnani, according to representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, was eliminated during an airstrike.

It is worth noting that the Pentagon completely denies the involvement of the Russian side in the liquidation of the terrorist commander.

Investigative findings

The plane crash over Sinai alarmed the entire world community, so representatives from many countries took part in the investigation into the causes of the crash:

• Russian Federation;
• Egypt;
• France;
• Ireland;
• Germany.

According to the rules of investigation approved by the International Civil Aviation Association, the Egyptian side should have been the leader in this matter. The version about the involvement of terrorists in the crash was recognized by the current President of Egypt only at the beginning of 2016. The full report on the investigation was published by representatives of the Ministry 2 months after the speech of the President of Egypt.

The report noted that during the investigation it was even possible to mark the location of the explosive device. To clarify this issue, the expert commission had to analyze all the collected fragments of the destroyed airbus. The analysis of the fragments was carried out in a special reserve hangar on the territory of the Cairo aviation complex.

At the end of the study, experts were able to confirm that the bomb was planted by militants in the tail of the airbus, more precisely, in the compartment used for transporting oversized cargo. As soon as the terrorists activated the explosive device, a powerful explosion tore off the tail of the plane, which caused an uncontrolled dive.

According to data published by a Reuters source, several people were detained who were suspected of involvement in the tragedy. In particular, we are talking about 2 police officers, a mechanic and a luggage compartment loader. The agency also added that the brother of the mechanic suspected of the terrorist attack arrived in Syria approximately 12 months before the tragedy to join the terrorist group.

Interesting information about the ill-fated flight

The Airbus A321-231 that crashed had the number 663. It left the factory in 1997, and during the same period it took its first flight. First, the airliner received a temporary number DAVZK.

After successful testing, the aircraft was purchased by the International Leasing Finance Corporation (ILFC). MEA Airlines leased it. The airliner had 149 passenger seats, of which 31 were in business class and 118 in economy class. The aircraft was in operation for 6 years before being transferred back to ILFC.

Interestingly, during this time the airliner became direct participant one of the incidents that also occurred in Egypt. On November 16, 2001, a dangerous landing was made in the city of Cairo. Due to the fault of the pilots, the plane raised its nose so high that the tail section hit the runway hard.
There were no casualties as a result of the incident. None of the flight passengers (81 people) and 7 crew members required medical assistance. Soon after forced repairs, the ship returned to service for passenger flights.

Further history of the crashed plane

In 2003, the same airliner, number TC-OAE, was leased to the carrier Onur Air (Turkey). Moreover, not only the onboard combination was subject to changes, but also the interior. In service with Onur Air, the aircraft began to accommodate 220 economy class seats; It was decided to remove the business salon.

Until 2012, the aircraft operated flights directly from Onur Air, the Saudi company Saudi Arabian Airlines and the Syrian carrier Cham Wings Airlines (the latter used the aircraft under a sublease agreement with Onur Air). In the spring of 2012, the ship returned to ILFC for the last time.

The ship was transferred to the carrier Kogalymavia on March 30. The aircraft number was changed to EI-ETJ. The Russian carrier, like ILFC's previous partners, also entered into a leasing agreement. Exactly a month later, the aircraft was completely purchased by the Dutch company AerCap and re-delivered to Kogalymavia, which at that time was already called Metrojet.

Despite such a long history of operation by various carriers, the aircraft was maintained in fully operational condition. The airliner was equipped with two powerful V2533-A5 engines developed by International Aero Engines. The last operating company, Metrojet (Kogalymavia), provided evidence that the frequency and quality of all technical checks were strictly observed.

According to the documentation, the last technical inspection before the disaster occurred on October 26, 2015. Scheduled maintenance was performed as scheduled and dates back to March 18, 2014. The vessel's safety level corresponded to a coefficient of 0.67 (maximum 2).

Over the entire 18.5 years of active operation, the aircraft completed 21,590 takeoff and landing cycles. The total flight time was 57,413 hours and 11 minutes. Which corresponds to 48% of the total resource.

Who was on the plane

There were a total of 224 people on board A. Among the dead were a total of 218 citizens of Russia, 4 of Ukraine and 2 of Belarus.

The plane was flown by two pilots:

• Aircraft commander V.Yu. Nemov (48 years old). Number of hours in flight: more than 12,000.
• Co-pilot S.S. Trukhachev (45 years old). Flight experience: 5,641 hours.

Five flight attendants worked with passengers on the flight. Rosaviatsia provided data according to which there were 192 adults and 25 children on board. The oldest passenger was 77 years old, and the youngest was only 10 months old at the time of the tragedy.

How did the countries' authorities react to the tragedy?

The heads of a large number of countries publicly expressed their condolences:

• Germany;
• Egypt;
• Bulgaria;
• Latvia;
• Lithuania;
• the Netherlands;
• Ukraine, etc.

Even Pope Francis was among the officials. There were simply no people in the world who were indifferent to this tragedy and the victims, despite the ambiguous political and economic relations.

However, one incident did take place. Although France officially expressed condolences and support, the infamous Charlie Hebdo magazine immediately published 3 cartoons based on the plane crash. The Russian government and public were outraged. Official Paris spoke out in support of the journalists, saying that the magazine has the right to “express without restrictions its own opinion on everything,” even if it contradicts the government’s position.

In contact with

From the airport of the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. People who had vacationed in Egypt returned home to Russia on this plane. The landing was to take place in St. Petersburg. However, this was not destined to happen. The plane crashed. All crew members and passengers of the ill-fated flight are victims of a plane crash over Sinai.

Events preceding the tragedy

The airliner made two passenger flights shortly before the tragedy. The first and second flights were carried out along the route Egypt (Sharm el-Sheikh) - Russia (Samara) - Egypt (Sharm el-Sheikh). The plane landed abroad on the afternoon of October 30. The crew members had no comments about the airliner.

The following morning, maintenance was carried out before scheduled flights. During the test, no problems were identified. Another flight boarding has begun. 192 adult passengers and 25 children boarded. The crew consisted of 7 people.

Plane crash

At 06:50 Moscow time, the airliner took off from the airport of the Egyptian resort city to St. Petersburg. 23 minutes after takeoff, contact with the crew was lost. from radars. Search teams moved to the suspected crash site.

The crashed airliner was found in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula, among the mountains. On a huge territory of more than 20 square meters. km, the wreckage of the plane and the belongings of passengers on board were scattered. People who arrived at the scene of the tragedy heard the sounds of mobile phones. Relatives and friends of the victims called their loved ones, hoping that they had missed their flight.

Versions of the causes of the plane crash

International media reports indicated that the plane may have crashed due to a technical problem. However, Metrojet airline, which leased this airliner, denied this version. Press secretary Alexey Smirnov noted that the plane crash over Sinai could not have occurred due to a malfunction, because the plane was checked several days before the tragedy. No problems were found.

An error by the crew members is another version that was put forward during the investigation. Metrojet said the plane was being flown by experienced people. The commander of the aircraft was Nemov Valery Yurievich. He flew over 12 thousand hours. The second pilot was Sergey Stanislavovich Trukhachev. His total flight time was 5,641 hours.

An explosion on board a homemade bomb is a version confirmed during the investigation. a statement was made that a Russian airliner crashed over the Sinai Peninsula as a result of a terrorist attack. ISIS militants announced their involvement in the crime.

Victims of the tragedy

The plane crash over Sinai killed 224 people. There were several families on board the crashed plane. In St. Petersburg, a whole memorial appeared near Pulkovo Airport on the day of the tragedy. People brought flowers, toys, and lit candles in memory of those who were unable to return from the Egyptian resort town to Russia.

The bodies of the victims were brought home. arrived with the victims in St. Petersburg on November 2 at approximately 6 am. There were 144 people on board this airliner, whose lives were claimed by the plane crash over Sinai. The bodies of the dead, found later, personal belongings of people, fragments of bodies were brought to Russia on the following flights.

Identification procedure

After the planes with the bodies of the dead arrived from Egypt, experts began preparing for the identification procedure. The bodies were gradually released to relatives and close people. The first funeral took place on November 5. In St. Petersburg on this day they said goodbye to a 31-year-old resident who left behind a 2-year-old son and wife. In the Novgorod region, a 60-year-old woman who worked at a local school was buried.

The release of the remains was completed on December 7, 2015 in St. Petersburg. During the activities carried out, it was not possible to identify 7 victims. These victims of the plane crash over Sinai, with the consent of their loved ones and relatives, were buried unidentified.

Main passenger

Tatyana and Alexey Gromov are a young family who died in a plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula. They set off for the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on October 15, unaware that this trip would be their last. Together with them they took their 10-month-old daughter Darina. The girl’s grandmother was very worried when she learned that Tatyana and Alexey would not go alone. An elderly woman asked them to leave her granddaughter in Russia. However, the parents did not agree. They really wanted their daughter to see the sea.

Before flying to Sharm el-Sheikh, Tatyana Gromova posted the last photo of her baby on the social network. The girl stood at the window, holding the glass with her hands, and looked at the runway, looking at the planes. “The main passenger” - these were the words my mother wrote. After 2 weeks, this photo became a symbol of a terrible tragedy.

Other children killed in the plane crash

Anton Bogdanov is a 10-year-old boy whose life was taken in a plane crash over Sinai. He was vacationing in Egypt with his older sister and father. The family was very happy about the upcoming trip. Before flying to Sharm el-Sheikh, the boy left the inscription “Goodbye, Russia!!!” on his social network profile. Unfortunately, these words turned out to be prophetic.

The number of dead children also includes 3-year-old Anastasia Sheina, 10-year-old Valeria Dushechkina, and 11-year-old Evgeniy Pryanikov. Their parents were Olga and Yuri Shein. The adults decided to go to Egypt to celebrate an important date for them - 10 years since they met. They took all the children with them.

The list of those killed in the plane crash over Sinai includes the names of two more children - 2-year-old Dmitry and 3-year-old Alexandra Vinnik. They vacationed in Egypt with their mother Marianna Vinnik and grandmother Natalya Osipova. On the day of the plane crash they were all gone. Oleg Vinnik, Marianna’s husband and father of small children, lost his large family. The man was not on this airliner. He did not go on vacation, but stayed in Russia.

There were other children on board the plane. Each child had his own story, his own life, his own dreams and desires. The ending for all these innocent children turned out to be the same. Their fates in 2015 on October 31 were tragically cut short by a plane crash over Sinai. The bodies of the dead children were found among the wreckage of the plane in the crash area.

Premonition of death

For some people on that ill-fated flight, their intuition told them not to go on the trip. However, they did not listen to their inner voice. One of these passengers was 15-year-old Maria Ivleva. The girl was afraid to fly, she was tormented by the fear of death. She told her friends about this. After the plane crash and the investigation, horrifying information was revealed - Maria Ivleva was sitting in the place where the bomb was located by the terrorists.

“I know I won’t come back.” A song with this name was left on her social network page by one of the passengers of the fatal flight, Ekaterina Murashova. She lived in Pskov, participated in the city beauty contest in 2014, and raised her daughter. Catherine loved to travel. The girl went to Sharm el-Sheikh with her mother, but she did not take her little daughter with her. The trip to Egypt was the last for Ekaterina Murashova.

The plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula is a tragic event that has been talked about all over the world. In one day, the lives of 224 people were cut short. Some people lost their soul mate in a plane crash over Sinai, some lost their parents, some were left without children, and some lost all their loved ones and were left completely alone. This is an irreparable loss, the pain of which has not gone away over time and is unlikely to ever subside.

In October 2015, a Kogalymavia plane took off from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. A bomb planted on board exploded over the Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people: seven crew members and 217 passengers, 25 of whom were children.

"Paper" I spoke with the families of the victims and found out how they live two years after the tragedy, why relatives of the victims are suing for compensation, and how in St. Petersburg they perpetuate the memory of the largest disaster in Russian aviation.

In 2015, Larisa and Anatoly Pulyanov were going on vacation to Abkhazia. Initially, their son Roman suggested going to Egypt. Larisa categorically refused: she did not want to fly on a plane and spend a lot on travel - the room at the dacha was then being redecorated for the wedding of Roman and his bride Tatyana Mokievskaya.

Roman and Tatyana, despite her mother’s protests, flew to Egypt on vacation. On October 31, they, along with 222 others on board flight A321, were killed in an explosion.

All these two years we have been thinking about the death of our son: you wake up with it and fall asleep, think about it throughout the day. We don't go crazy - we'll cry, sometimes. But I understand that this feeling is to the end and it will never let go,” says Anatoly Pulyanov.

Previously, every day for us began with a call from Roman and his question: “Parents, how are you there?”, and ended: “Parents, how was your day?” recalls Larisa. “My best friend died. Such relationships are rare between father and son, but this is exactly what we had,” shares Anatoly.

Roman and Tatiana

One day, Anatoly wandered into an unfinished firehouse, where it was dark, with fittings and sharp pieces of metal sticking out everywhere. However, the man was not injured. “We think Roman saved it. We try so hard to think so as not to die. After all, there are already relatives of the victims who died within two years,” explains Larisa. - Things constantly happen to us that confirm that there is a small connection, and a lot of them have accumulated over two years. I know that death is not the end. I feel it."

Even though the couple misses their son dearly, they are not alone. Roman's good friends constantly communicate with them - one friend, Maria, calls almost every day. The Pulyanovs also attend meetings of members of the Flight 9268 charitable foundation, which includes the families of the deceased passengers. When spouses communicate with them, they feel understood.

How does the fund created after the tragedy work?

The prototype of the fund was a closed group for relatives, which was created by St. Petersburg resident Alexander Voitenko in the first days after the tragedy. His 37-year-old sister Irina and 14-year-old niece Alisa died in the plane crash. Alexander and his sister lived in different cities, but constantly communicated.

For the first two months the bodies were not given to us. It was necessary to bring everyone together so that we could have a single information space, it’s easier that way. And ultimately, we decided that we needed to create our own fund: once a legal entity is registered, it is easier to communicate with the city administration or the Investigative Committee and provide financial and legal assistance.

Photo: group of the charitable foundation “Flight 9268” on VKontakte

The headmistress of the St. Petersburg school, Irina Zakharova, became the chairman of the foundation’s board; Her 28-year-old daughter, an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Elvira Voskresenskaya, was flying in the plane that exploded. The first meeting of relatives, where it was decided to create a fund, took place in the assembly hall of the school headed by Zakharova.

All the remains were released to relatives only in May. Seven people, according to Voitenko, remained unidentified.

Now the fund group has almost 40 thousand subscribers from Ufa, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kaliningrad and other cities. Voitenko calls them a big family, where people always help each other. Among them are ordinary Russians who believe that this tragedy has affected them personally. Alexander himself believes that the disaster over Sinai affected everyone in one way or another.

A few days ago, the relatives of the victims were presented with a collection of poems, “Stepping into Eternity,” some of which were written by group member Arina Korol. Voitenko recalls that she began offering help to relatives from the first days and still writes poetry almost every day dedicated to the dead. And another participant, Irina Solya, helps the foundation organize events: concerts and holidays for children. So, recently the fund’s members planted trees together, and after that they organized a tea party. In the disaster over Sinai, Arina and Irina did not lose loved ones, but they still perceive the tragedy as personal.

The main goal of the foundation is to preserve the memory of all those who died. On October 28, at the Serafimovskoye cemetery, a monument “Folded Wings” was unveiled over the grave with the unidentified remains of victims of the disaster; it was created with money from the authorities of St. Petersburg. On the anniversary, October 31, the Garden of Memory memorial was opened on Rumbolovskaya Mountain.

How the city supports the families of the victims and what it does to preserve memory

When everything first happened, the psychologists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, high-level professionals, helped us a lot: they brought people out of the state of shock. Then psychologists from district social protection services picked up the baton: social psychologists were assigned to all those in need. After a year and a half, we realized that connections with specialists had weakened, and time does not heal, we still need social support,” says co-founder of the foundation, HSE professor Valery Gordin.

According to him, after the program was announced, under which the foundation was ready to pay for anonymous consultations with psychologists, several dozen people applied for them. Psychologists, according to Gordin, say that relatives of the victims experience phantom pain.

Valery’s son, 28-year-old Leonid, died in a plane crash along with his fiancee Alexandra Illarionova. Lenya loved animals very much and was, as his father recalls, a spontaneous animal activist. Once, when Gordin was about to get a cat, he persuaded him not to buy a pet, but to adopt it from a shelter. And when Leonid himself lost his cat Kysya, he looked for the pet together with volunteers.

Then the father treated Leonid’s beliefs with irony and did not follow the advice. After the death of the young man, he decided to organize the Lenkin Cat Foundation, which helps animals.

Lenkin Cat Foundation at the Night of Museums

Gordin still runs Lenka's Cat, and his attitude towards animal protection has changed. The man says he takes a pragmatic approach to the matter and details how the fund has changed. He plans to open a second center for the rental of veterinary equipment, so that it is more convenient for veterinary clinics and those wishing to help, and a school for animal volunteers who will help homeless cats.

Valery believes that after the tragedy the city authorities behaved with dignity and always responded to the requests of relatives. Now the deputies, together with Vice-Governor Albin, are helping to build a temple in the Baltic Pearl area. They plan to set up an educational center at the temple, where they will also provide social assistance.

“Not only to the relatives of the victims, but also to the residents of the area. In my opinion, this is very important and symbolic,” notes Gordin.

A year ago, local residents opposed the construction of the temple, claiming that it had nothing to do with the “Baltic Pearl,” and the issue of construction was decided without consulting them.

Gordin says that opponents “to some extent” remained:

Some people like the idea of ​​preserving memory, others think it should be pushed further into a drawer. We met and explained our position. I really hope that the temple will be built in the near future,” Gordin explained.

St. Petersburg residents feared that the construction of the temple would delay the creation of schools and clinics. According to KP, the dissatisfied addressed Vladimir Putin in a letter.

What kind of support do relatives of the crew receive in Moscow and what is known about payments to them?

What they do in St. Petersburg to perpetuate it is all the great merit of the foundation. This is of great importance to us. If they also build us a spiritual and educational center, this will be another place where we can come and bow to the memory of our family and friends,” says the father of 25-year-old flight attendant Alexei Filimonov, Muscovite Andrei Filimonov.

Andrey says that over the past two years he has been regularly calling and texting relatives of the crew. Almost all of them live in Moscow and the Moscow region, and try to meet more often and support each other. Sometimes they come to fund meetings in St. Petersburg.

25-year-old Alexey, according to his father, got on board at the last moment: he was not supposed to work on this flight: on the way to the airport, his car broke down on the Moscow Ring Road, as a result, the young man missed his flight and ended up in reserve. He was called 12 hours before departure to replace another flight attendant.

The crew's relatives have their own separate VKontakte group, and they have been supported by subscribers all these two years. The families of the victims now know some of them personally and meet regularly. Andrey is given icons and poems about his son, and souvenirs are sent from St. Petersburg.

Andrey and Alexey Filimonov

Previously, disasters in our country were mainly due to the fault of the crew. But in this case, our loved ones found themselves in the same situation as the passengers. It was terrorism. There was no chance of salvation. The main thing is that we are not forgotten.

According to Filimonov, Kogalymavia never paid compensation to any of the relatives of the deceased crew members. About the same in the charity fund group

Flight 9268 departed on its last flight at 03:50:06 UTC (05:50:06 local time and 06:50:06 Moscow time). At 04:13:00 the airliner sharply dropped in altitude and then disappeared from radar.

Shortly before the accident, the aircraft commander requested permission from ground services for an emergency landing in Cairo due to technical problems. However, it was no longer possible to save the aircraft. The wreckage of the airliner was discovered near the city of El-Arish - they were scattered over 13 km in an ellipse-shaped area, the area of ​​which reached 30 square meters. km.

There were 224 people on board the crashed Airbus 321, seven of them crew members. Egyptian rescuers at the scene initially reported hearing people groaning under the rubble and said they hoped to find someone who had survived, but it soon became known that no one had survived. Most of the plane's passengers were tourists returning to Russia after a vacation in Egypt. The vast majority of those on board the plane were Russians, but there were three citizens of Ukraine and one Belarusian citizen.

Among the dead were the deputy head of Pskov, who was returning from vacation with his common-law wife, as well as a participant in the TV show “Top Model in Russian” Elena Domashnyaya from St. Petersburg. 24 children died.

The youngest passenger was only ten months old; her photograph, published by many world publications, became a symbol of the tragedy over the Sinai.

Causes

In the first days after the disaster, conflicting information was received about the possible causes of the crash. Thus, Egyptian authorities said that the crew of the Airbus 321 complained of engine problems. They also put forward a version of a technical malfunction as one of the main ones. Egypt's preliminary report late last year made no mention of a terrorist attack on board the ship.

However, all the evidence pointed to the opposite.

A few hours after the accident, militants from the Islamic State banned in Russia took responsibility for the explosion.

The organizer of the explosion was called Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the Vilayat Sinai group, considered to be. Later, through media friendly to them, the terrorists showed photographs of an explosive device - it turned out to be a homemade bomb made from an ordinary aluminum can. ISIS militants also claimed that they were able to smuggle the device on board the plane after they found a loophole in the security system at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

On the evening of November 16, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting following the investigation into the causes of the plane crash, said that Russia would find and punish the organizers of the terrorist attack.

“The murder of our people in Sinai is among the bloodiest in terms of the number of crime victims. And we will not wipe away the tears from our souls and hearts. This will stay with us forever. But this will not stop us from finding and punishing the criminals,” the president emphasized. - We must do this without a statute of limitations, know them all by name. We will look for them wherever they are hiding. We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them.”

In addition, Putin ordered increased air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. After this order, the aviation group of the Russian Air Force in Syria was strengthened, and long-range aircraft were also involved in the bombing. “Our combat aviation work in Syria must not only be continued. It must be strengthened in such a way that criminals understand that retribution is inevitable,” the president added.

"Garden of Memory"

The day before, October 30, a foundation stone was installed on Rumbolovskaya Mountain in the Leningrad Region at the site of the future monument to the victims of the “Garden of Memory” tragedy. “We plan to plant 224 trees here, according to the number of people killed in the terrorist attack over Sinai. And this garden, the “Garden of Memory,” will bloom every year, will live. And the memory of relatives, friends and fellow countrymen who flew on flight 9268 will live in our hearts,” said the regional governor.

The “Garden of Memory” project, developed by students of the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, is a corridor of slabs and metal structures with the names of all those killed in the plane crash with elements of landscape design. Thanks to the lighting system, the monument will be visible at night to those driving along the Road of Life (today this is the official name of the A128 St. Petersburg - Morier highway). The grand opening of the “Garden of Memory” will take place a year later, on the eve of the second anniversary of the Egyptian tragedy.

The day before, relatives of the victims literally covered the monument laid in St. Petersburg with flowers.

They don’t have long to wait for the first results of the investigation into the tragedy over Sinai: the preliminary results of the investigation, according to a source of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, will be published within the next 60 days.