The Kremlin has said for the first time that a bomb brought down a Russian passenger plane that crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.

“One can unequivocally say that it was a terrorist act,” Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s FSB security service, told a meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin, according to a transcript published on the Kremlin’s web site.

The FSB said traces of explosives were found in the plane’s debris.

Putin said he had ordered Russia’s special services to focus on finding those responsible.

Egypt plane crash: bomb brought jet down, says Russia's security service | World news | The Guardian