CAIRO, Nov. 17 (Aswat Masriya) - A homemade explosive device equivalent to 1 kilograms of TNT was responsible for the midair breakup of the Russian charter flight that crashed in the Sinai peninsula on Oct. 31, Alexander Bortnikov the head of Russia's federal security service told Russian news agency Interfax on Tuesday. 

"We can definitely say this was a terrorist act," state-affilated Russian news agency Sputnik cited Bortnikov as saying. 

“According to our specialists’ assessment, a homemade explosive device with an equivalent of 1 kilogram of TNT on board the aircraft exploded, which led to the plane 'breaking up' in midair, which would explain the scattering of the plane’s fuselage across a wide area,” Bortnikov said during a meeting.

Interfax reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech, "we will find" the "culprits" in "any place" of the globe and "punish them." Russia is offering a $50 million bounty for any information that could lead to the perpetrators.  

He added: "I request the foreign ministry to appeal to all our partners, we are counting on them in search for culprit behind Sinai terror attack." 

Putin said that the activities of the Russian Air Force in Syria should not only continue, but also intensify. 

In September, Russia launched airstrikes on targets in Syria using the Syrian airfield Hmeymim. Russia says it has targetd Islamic State fighters but major Western powers have been openly critical of the Russian attack. 

The Islamic State Fighters in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the downing of the Russian plane, one of the several global attacks the group has claimed within the past month. 

Although an investigation is still underway theories on the downing of the plane abound. On Nov. 4 and 5, the UK and the U.S. had officially entertained the possibility that the Russian flight was brought down by a bomb planted on board, sending ripples across the world and raising questions on Egyptian airport security.

Egyptian officials have said that flight suspensions were "premature" since the investigation into the cause of the crash are still underway and that “all possibilities are on the table”.

They have urged local and international media not to jump to conclusions until the international committee tasked with investigating the incident announces the results, just as the local media cried foul, claiming that Egypt is facing a massive Western conspiracy to scare off tourists and bring the economy to its knees.