Putin offers $50 million reward for information about downed Egypt plane

Russia has offered a $50 million (£33 million) reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the bombing of Metrojet Flight 9268. FSB security agency director Alexander Bortnikov announced on Tuesday that a homemade explosive device had blown apart the aircraft, which crashed in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after taking off from Sharm el Sheikh International Airport, killing 224 people. He confirmed the crash was being treated as an act of terror. The FSB later appealed to “Russian and international communities for cooperation in identifying the terrorists”.

(An) equivalent of up to one 1.5kg of TNT went off during the flight. As a result the plane disintegrated in mid-air, which explains widely scattered fuselage pieces.

FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov

U.S. and British intelligence has long suggested the crash was caused by an act of terror, with a member of an investigation team saying they were “90% sure” that a noise heard on the black box was a bomb. Vladimir Putin described the downing of the plane as a “barbarian” terror attack perpetrated on Russian citizens. “The killing of our people in the Sinai Peninsula is one of the bloodiest crimes,” he said. “We are not going to wipe tears from our souls and our hearts. This will remain with us forever.” He added that Russia would not hold back from finding and punishing those responsible.

We need to know them by their names. We will find them, wherever they are, and we will punish them.

Vladimir Putin

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