Viktor Ozerov, head of Russia's defence affairs committee at the upper house of Russian parliament, said in remarks carried by the state news agency RIA Novosti that he "totally excludes terrorism" as a possible cause of the crash.
Whilst conceding that terrorism is only one in a long list of possible causes of the accident, as discussed earlier, I fail to see how this man can say that it can be excluded at this very early stage of the investigation. I assume this statement is being made purely for political reasons in a vain attempt to assure the Russian people that they have nothing to fear from terrorists, unlike people elsewhere. Sensible Russians will no doubt ignore his reassurances.