World

Murder of Russians aboard A321 equivalent to attack on country

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the murder of Russians aboard a passenger plane that had crashed over Egypt’s Sinai was equivalent to an attack on Moscow, Sputnik News reports.

A Russian Airbus A321 crashed en route from Egypt’s resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg on October 31, leaving no survivors. The Russian Security Service (FSB) confirmed Tuesday that the detonation of a home-made explosive device was the cause of the crash.

“The terrorist act in the Sinai Peninsula was an attack on Russian citizens, which is equivalent to an attack on the state.”

As Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed, Moscow’s actions will be based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, which implies the right of any state of individual or collective self-defense in case of an attack upon it, Lavrov said.

Moscow will step up all efforts available to protect itself, Lavrov added.

Lavrov said that “the right to self-defense will be implemented by all available means both political and military, and through special services, intelligence, and so on.”

The Russian top diplomat said that Moscow had already received intelligence data on the deadly A321 crash from foreign partners.”With regard to a concrete response in connection with possible evidence, data, information about where might be people in one way or another involved in this terrorist act, they have been already partially received from [foreign] special services.”

“Of course, this information can not be made public for obvious reasons,” Lavrov added.

Show More
Back to top button