Russian authorities have confirmed the Metrojet flight that crashed in Egypt last month was brought down by a homemade bomb, planted by terrorists onboard.
Security Director Aleksandr Bortnikov said the crash “was unequivocally a terror act,” and that the blast that downed the flight used the equivalent of 1.5 kilograms of TNT.
#BREAKING: Russia on Tue confirms jet crash in #Egypt caused by homemade bomb installed by terrorists pic.twitter.com/tsCYg9WdXY
— People’s Daily,China (@PDChina) November 17, 2015
Terrorism had already been suspected as the cause of the crash before today’s official announcement, with ISIS releasing a video claiming responsibility for bringing the flight down.
All 224 passengers on board died in the incident, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in the country’s history.
In light of the new findings, President Vladimir Putin has already doubled-down on Russia’s offensive in the Middle East, saying “our military work in Syria must not only continue. It must be strengthened in such a way so that the terrorists will understand that retribution is inevitable.”