Russians unmoved by spectre of terrorist attack

In Moscow, the dominant mood regarding the Sinai air crash appeared to be a mix of scepticism, caution and implacable hostility towards Isis (Islamic State).

On the streets of Moscow yesterday, the dominant mood regarding the Sinai air crash appeared to be a mix of scepticism, caution and implacable hostility towards Isis (Islamic State).

Above all, many Russians seemed hesitant to draw any conclusions about the causes of disaster, or to tie it to Moscow's airstrikes in Syria.

"You want me to say it was a bad idea to bomb Syria? Personally I think it was high time we destroy Isis," said a woman who gave her name as Tatiana Vladimirovna.

"Isis is horrible, they're worse than Hitler. They're destroying people, they're destroying their history," said Natalya Petrovna. "Have you watched TV? They're now engaged in recruiting our girls.

"Do you think comrade Putin will let them take down our planes just like that?" she said when asked about the possibility of terrorist attacks in revenge for Russia's campaign in Syria. "Our military looks pretty good now compared to others."

Vladimir, a retiree who didn't want to give his surname, said Russians' support for the Syria campaign would remain unaffected even if a bomb was shown to have brought down the plane. "A plane crashed, so what? Our planes have crashed before because the pilot was drunk," he said.

"Whether [perceptions] change will depend on our zombie-box," he added, using a term for state television popular among the opposition.

Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted a source saying Egyptian experts had determined several passengers died from "bomb blast trauma".

In general, Russian media remain hesitant to raise the spectre of a terrorist attack. State news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed Russian official in the investigation as saying: "At the moment it is only possible to talk about the presence of undefined sounds registered by the flight recorder" and that it was "premature" to say they came from an explosion.

The government newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, reported that the black box did not provide conclusive data that an explosive device had been on board.Observer