Putin vows crash revenge
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed terrorists for the air crash in Egypt that killed 224 people and vowed to step up military strikes in Syria to punish those who carried out “one of the bloodiest crimes” against Russians.
“Not for the first time, Russia is confronted with barbaric terrorist crimes,” Mr Putin said in comments broadcast yesterday from a Monday meeting with defence and security chiefs. “We won’t wipe the tears out of our souls and hearts. This will remain with us forever. But it won’t stop us from finding and punishing the perpetrators.”
Mr Putin’s confirmation of a terrorist attack follows UK and US warnings that a bomb may have downed the Russian aircraft after it left the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Oct 31 bound for St Petersburg. An Islamic State (IS) affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula has said it blew up the plane in retaliation for Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria against the organisation and other militants fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Traces of foreign-made explosives were discovered in the wreckage of the plane and on the possessions of people killed in the crash, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, told Mr Putin at the meeting. Investigators calculated that a bomb containing 1kg of explosive blew up the plane, he said. Russia must know the names of all those involved in the crime, Mr Putin said. “We will hunt them everywhere, wherever they’re hiding. We’ll find them anywhere in the world and we’ll punish them,” he said. Russian air strikes in Syria must continue and be increased “so these criminals understand that retribution is inescapable”, Mr Putin said at the meeting. Russia also “counts on all of our friends” to help in hunting down those responsible. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov should “turn to all our partners” for assistance, he said.
Russia’s FSB is offering a US$50 million (1.8 billion baht) reward for information leading to the capture of those responsible, state-run RIA Novosti reported.