The crash site of the Russian jetliner in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in October.Credit Maxim Grigoryev/Russia's Emergency Ministry, Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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MOSCOW — Russia confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that a homemade bomb brought down a Russian charter jet over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt more than two weeks ago, killing all 224 people aboard.
“We can say definitely that this was a terrorist act,” Alexander V. Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., said in remarks to Russia’s Security Council.
An “improvised explosive device” had detonated soon after the plane took off from the resort city of Sharm el Sheikh, he said in remarks broadcast nationally. “The plane disintegrated in midair, which explains the widely scattered fuselage pieces.”
Experts have focused on the idea that a bomb brought down the Metrojet Airbus A321 since it went down on Oct. 31. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attack within hours, although it did not provide any proof.