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       Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on July 8, 2021.

       ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP/Getty Images

       President Vladimir Putin scrapped Russia’s ban on charter flights to Egypt on Thursday, six years after suspending them for national security seasons in the aftermath of a plane crash.

       The flights were stopped after a Metrojet plane taking Russian holiday makers back from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg broke up over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing 224 people.

       Russia concluded the plane was destroyed by a bomb. A group affiliated with Islamic State militants claimed responsibility.

       Putin’s decree lifting the ban will be a boon for Egypt’s year-round resorts in Sharm al-Sheikh and Hurghada which attracted large numbers of Russians in the past.

       Russia and Egypt agreed to resume all flights in a call in April between Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s presidency said at the time.

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