The A321 plane crash over Sinai, which occurred on October 31, 2015, became the worst disaster in Egypt and the largest tragedy in aircraft crashes. The Airbus A321-231 aircraft, owned by the Kogalymavia company, was used by the tour operator Briscoe and carried tourists on flight 9268 Sharm al-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. The crash killed 224 people.
Flight details
Airplane
Airbus A321-231 was produced in 1997. The vessel was then handed over to the owner, the leasing corporation ILFC, which leased it to MEA (Lebanon). The airliner was assigned the number F-0HMP, its capacity was 149 people. In Lebanon it was used for 6 years and was returned to ILFC in 2003.
Fact. During its use in MEA, one breakdown occurred - when landing in Egypt, the pilots raised the nose of the airliner too high, and the tail part touched runway. After that aircraft has been renovated.
In 2003, the aircraft was again leased to Onur Air Corporation (Türkiye). The ship's board was modernized, its capacity increased to 220 people. In 2007, the airliner was subleasing to Saudi Arabian Airlines ( Saudi Arabia), and in 2010 - Cham Wings (Syria). In 2012, the airliner was leased to Kogalymavia LLC.
According to the leasing company, the aircraft was maintained at a level that complied with the standards, and technical control and inspections were carried out on time. On October 26, 2015, a weekly technical inspection was carried out, and on March 18, 2014, the aircraft underwent factory control. Over all the years of use, the airliner has exhausted 46-48% of its nominal life of scheduled flights.
Crew and passengers
The ship was staffed by a Russian crew, including:
- 2 experienced pilots,
- 5 flight attendants.
Among the passengers who were on board the plane at the time of the disaster were 192 people. adults and 25 children. The oldest of them was 77 years old, the youngest girl was 10 months old. All people died in the crash. Photos of the dead were posted on several official websites.
List of passengers killed over Sinai
Most of the victims of the disaster lived in the northwestern regions of the Russian Federation; there were also 4 citizens of Ukraine and 2 from Belarus on the plane.
The list of those killed in the plane crash included:
- A. Kopylov – deputy head of the Pskov city administration,
- D. Gromova (10 months), whose photo became a symbol of the plane crash.
Chronology of events
Preceding circumstances
On October 30, 2015, Airbus A321-231 made 2 normal flights on the planned routes: Sharm al-Sheikh-Samara-Sharm al-Sheikh. The final disembarkation of passengers at the airport was completed at 15:30, and representatives of the crew who carried it out had no complaints about the condition of the equipment. The vessel underwent scheduled maintenance, and on the morning of October 31, 2015, a new crew took over (V. Nemov and S. Trukhachev), and preparations began for subsequent voyages - Sharm al-Sheikh-St. Petersburg-Sharm al-Sheikh.
The Kogalymavia company was a member of the international united holding company specializing in tourism - TH&C, which also included the Brisco company, which ordered a flight from Egypt to the Northern capital.
Catastrophe
At 5:50 local time in Egypt (6:50 Moscow time), the plane took off from Sharm al-Sheikh airport, headed north along the shore of the bay and gradually rose to 6.4 km. After 12 minutes of flight, the plane turned left to bypass the Sinai Peninsula and reach the Mediterranean, the pilots intended to gain an altitude of 9.75 km.
In the 23rd minute of the flight, the airliner picked up a speed of 755 km/h and climbed 9.4 km when the situation left the normal mode. The ship began to fall at a speed of 1.8 km/min. At 04:13 GES, the flight recorder recording was interrupted due to extraneous noise. After 24 minutes of flight, the plane crashed in Sinai and was instantly destroyed.
Search services found remains of the disaster among mountain ranges peninsula 50 km from the city of Nehel. The wreckage of the plane and fragments of the bodies of the dead were scattered over a radius of 13 km, over a total area of 30 km.
Reaction
President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin expressed words of condolences to the loved ones and relatives of the victims of the tragedy. To the Head of Government D.A. Medvedev was charged with creating a commission to investigate the causes of the plane crash. V. Putin called for finding and eliminating the terrorists responsible for the tragedy.
Condolences were expressed to the relatives of the victims, as well as to all Russians:
- presidents and prime ministers of more than 50 countries,
- Pope,
- general secretaries,
- heads of religious communities of the Russian Federation.
“Hotlines” were opened for relatives of the deceased passengers: by telephone one could find out all the information about the injured loved ones.
The scandalous French magazine Charlie Hebdo published three cartoons on its pages illustrating the plane crash, which caused sharp negative criticism from the Russian leadership and the public. The illustrations were called "blasphemous", "cruel" and "mocking towards the victims of the tragedy."
Fact. Representatives of the French Foreign Ministry responded that all journalists have the right to freely express personal opinions, but they do not always coincide with the position of the country's official leaders.
On November 20, 2015, the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning the terrorist attacks, including the disaster over Sinai.
Mourning
November 1, 2015 became a day of mourning for Russians. Three days of mourning took place in the Northern capital, Leningrad region- four days.
Investigation into the causes of the Sinai tragedy
The investigation into the plane crash was carried out jointly by several countries, including Egypt and the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of Airbus and IASA.
On November 1, 2015, the investigation began: analysis of the information contained in the on-board recording devices, which practically survived, and examination of the remains of the victims. In Russia, a case was initiated under articles 263 and 238 of the Criminal Code of Russia.
The fact that the remains of the airliner were found in a large area of about 30 km allowed us to conclude that the tragedy occurred on high altitude.
On November 7, 2015, the official leadership of Egypt spoke about the results of the decoding, from which it followed that extraneous loud sounds were heard at the end of the recording. At the end of the flight, an altitude of 9.415 km and a speed of about 520 km/h were recorded; the ship was moving under the guidance of an automatic pilot, who needed to gain altitude.
At that time, several versions of the causes of the plane crash were voiced:
- wear and tear of aircraft equipment;
- fuel tank ignition;
- damage to the aircraft's lithium battery.
On November 16, 2015, information was received that the plane crashed due to a terrorist act - an IED located at the rear of the airbus with a total capacity of 1 kg of TNT went off. This conclusion was made after residues of explosive substances not made in Russia were found on fragments of the plane, personal belongings and bodies of the victims.
Fact. On November 17, 2015, a public announcement was posted that a cash reward of $50 million would be paid for assistance in capturing the terrorists responsible for the plane crash.
Analysis of the remains of the aircraft showed that the IED went off in the rear of the ship, in rows 30-32.
On December 14, 2015, a special commission organized by the Egyptian leadership announced the completion of the investigation into the plane crash and the readiness of the report on it. It indicated that in the process of analyzing the causes of the tragedy, nothing was found indicating a terrorist attack. This is explained by the fact that in the opposite case, the indirect cause of the disaster would have been a flaw in the Egyptian airport security service.
At the beginning of 2016, the current head of Egypt admitted that the airliner crashed as a result of a terrorist attack.
Cause of the disaster
On November 3, 2015, it became known from sources in the US defense department that an American satellite noticed a bright flash corresponding to the location and time of the Airbus A321 accident. No evidence of being hit by the missile was recorded, as a temperature trace would have been observed. Ignition in the air indicated that the tragedy could not have occurred during landing.
A few days after the plane crash, one of the terrorist groups within ISIS announced its involvement in the incident. However, the official leadership of Egypt cited equipment malfunction as the alleged cause of the tragedy.
A number of media representatives, Russian and Egyptian heads of transport departments rejected the explosion hypothesis, calling it propaganda.
On November 5, 2015, the intelligence services of the United States and Great Britain supported unofficial version about a terrorist act based on information intercepted from ISIS militants about the planting of a bomb on an airplane.
According to the assumptions of foreign intelligence services, expressed by various media, the IED was installed by terrorists subordinate to ISIS in the luggage compartment just before departure.
11/16/2015 at the Council of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin's version of the explosion of a homemade device was confirmed by the head of the Russian FSB A. Bortnikov.
On September 13, 2016, a special commission determined exactly where the bomb was located: in the oversized baggage section at the tail of the plane. To install the IED, the militants used the help of an employee of the Sharm al-Sheikh airport: just before the flight, a package with an explosive was planted, after which it was covered with strollers and suitcases.
Consequences of the disaster
After the tragedy, many aviation companies, including Kogalymavia, stopped flying over Sinai until the exact causes of the crash were clarified.
From 4 to 6 November 2015 Governments of Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, Germany and others European countries suspended regular flights over Sinai Peninsula.
11/16/2015 V.V. Putin announced that Russia will continue to look for the causes of the disaster; it is necessary to join forces and punish those responsible for the tragedy.
Fact. After the disaster in Egypt, an order was issued to intensify air strikes against the terrorist organization ISIS.
Conclusion
The plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula became the largest in Russian history. passenger aviation. On October 23, 2017, a monument to those who died over the Sinai was erected in St. Petersburg. On October 31, 2017, a memorial to the victims was laid in Vsevolozhsk.
Exactly two years ago, on October 31, 2015, the most massive plane crash, throughout the history of Russia. On this day, an Airbus A321-231 airliner of a Russian airline took off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and headed for St. Petersburg. The airliner's crew performed chartered flight and drove Russian tourists home after rest.
The plane climbed calmly along the Gulf of Aqaba and would soon cross the Sinai Peninsula to enter European airspace. However, at the 23rd minute of the flight, communication between ground services and the aircraft was interrupted. It soon became clear that the Airbus A321-231 crashed to the ground in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula and was completely destroyed. The wreckage of the aircraft was scattered over 13 km. All 224 people on board the plane were killed.
At the time of the death of the airliner, there were seven crew members and 217 passengers. Of these, four were Ukrainians, one was Belarusian, and the rest were Russian citizens. Among them was the deputy head of Pskov and a deputy of the local legislative assembly. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the oldest passenger was 77 years old, and
the youngest victim of the tragedy was a 10-month-old.
Shortly before the tragic incident, her mother Tatyana published a photo of the child on a page on the VKontakte social network. The photo shows the girl standing on the windowsill of an airport window with her back to the viewer. She looks at the planes on the ground. She captioned the photo: “The most important passenger.”
This photograph was later circulated by many Russian and world media and became a symbol of the Sinai disaster. Diana's mother and father also died as a result of the plane crash.
The Russian President, as well as the leaders of many countries in Europe and the world, expressed condolences to the victims. The day after the plane crashed, mourning was declared in Russia. However, the French published three cartoons on the topic of the disaster, which caused a negative reaction from the Russian Federation and. In response, the French Foreign Ministry stated that “in France, journalists freely express their opinions,” while “it does not always coincide with the official position of the French authorities.”
“There were no questions about the car”
Soon after the incident, various versions of what happened began to be put forward. Almost immediately, the hypothesis that the plane crashed due to a pilot error was dismissed. The crashed Airbus was controlled by experienced pilots, and the crew commander, 48-year-old Valery Nemov, had flown over 12 thousand hours, of which more than 3860 were on the Airbus A321.
However, details of the aircraft’s operation soon became known, and it turned out that it was far from new.
It was released in the spring of 1997 and made its first flight on May 9. After this, the aircraft was transferred to the American company International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), which by May 27 leased it to the Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines (MEA), which had owned it for six years. On June 2, 2003, already under the tail number TC-OAE, the liner was leased Turkish airline Onur Air. This structure later sub-leased the aircraft to Saudi Arabian Airlines, and from July 30 to September 29, 2010 to Syrian Cham Wings Airlines. By the spring of 2012, the TC-OAE board returned to ILFC, and by March 30, 2012, it was leased to the Russian Kogalymavia.
On April 30 of the same 2012, it was bought from ILFC by the Dutch airline AerCap, which re-delivered this airliner to the Russian Kogalymavia. The Russian airline, in turn, has already been operating under the Metrojet brand since May 1, 2012.
During the long service of the aircraft, an unpleasant incident occurred from a safety point of view. On November 16, 2001, he was flying passenger flight ME 306 on the Beirut-Cairo route and during landing at the airport in the Egyptian capital, the pilots raised his nose too high, causing the tail to drop so low that it hit the ground. None of the 88 people on board the plane (81 passengers and 7 crew members) were injured then, and the airliner itself returned to passenger routes after undergoing repairs. This information was confirmed by representatives of Kogalymavia, assuring that the aircraft passed all the necessary checks and technical tests on time.
On the eve of departure, the ill-fated flight underwent maintenance, and the receiving crew had no questions about the car.
Interrupted message
The investigation into the causes of the tragedy was launched by several large structures of the world, since Egypt is a very popular tourist destination among citizens of many countries. The investigation began to be carried out by the Ministry civil aviation Egyptian, Russian, Bureau of Investigation and Analysis of Civil Aviation Safety of France, German Federal Bureau of Investigation aviation accidents, the Irish Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch, and the US National Transportation Safety Board.
At the same time, according to the standards international law, Egyptian investigators were in charge as the incident occurred in airspace of this country. Already on the first of November, the previously found “black boxes” from the lost liner were deciphered. In the meantime, he opened criminal cases under Articles 263 and 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of railway, air, sea and inland water transport and metro" and "Production, storage, transportation or sale of goods and products, performance of work or provision of services that do not meet safety requirements").
The UK and German airlines also interrupted flights with the Egyptian state, and France, the Netherlands and Belgium warned their citizens against flying to Sharm el-Sheikh. In addition, it announced the cancellation of night flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Customers not identified
Meanwhile, the victims in the disaster case filed a class action lawsuit against the tour operator, Kogalymavia airline and insurance companies for a total amount of about €1.4 billion. This is the first example of a class action lawsuit for such a serious amount in Russian history.
And although the involvement of Kogalymavia employees in the incident over Sinai is not confirmed by facts, in the spring of 2016 it banned domestic and international flights of this airline.
According to the most frequently voiced version, the Sinai division of the terrorist “” (both organizations are banned in Russia) was behind the terrorist attack. Its members accepted responsibility for this crime shortly after the fact.
However, there are other points of view. A number of experts believe that the Qatari organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (a cell of the Islamic State banned in Russia) could be behind the terrorist attack. The United States also announced its trace in the tragedy.
Be that as it may, after the death of the plane, Russian aviation began to intensify air strikes against targets of various Islamist organizations in Syria. For the first time, Russian strategic aviation was involved in raids on IS targets and other extremists.
However, the names of the specific perpetrators of the terrorist attack have not yet been established.
And on October 28, 2017, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg. In addition, among St. Petersburg residents there is an idea to erect a monument to 10-month-old Darina Gromova, which a famous sculptor has already promised to make for free.
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" talked to 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 most major disaster V 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 - at that time the room at the dacha was 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 communicated constantly.
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: when entity, 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, we received a lot of help from Emergencies Ministry psychologists and professionals high level: they brought people out 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.
They opposed the construction of the temple a year ago local residents, who claimed 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 communicating with 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, our disasters 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 this 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 a plane crash with elements landscape design. Thanks to the lighting system, the monument will be visible at night to those driving along the Road of Life (today it is official name highway A128 St. Petersburg - Morier). 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.
