Charlie Hebdo plane-crash cartoons anger Russians

French satirical magazine rejects Kremlin's criticism of cartoons that have been widely discussed on social media.

The Kremlin has denounced French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo over a set of cartoons about the crash of a Russian passenger plane in Egypt.

On Sunday, VK, one of Russia's largest social media networks, said the magazine's cartoons had been the most discussed topic by its more than 100 million active users over the weekend.

"Insane cynicism and a mockery of the memory of the victims of this terrible tragedy," wrote one Twitter user, Anna Isayeva.

The French magazine published two cartoons after Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed in the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.

The first drawing showed a passenger's skull, with the caption: "The dangers of Russian low cost" flights.

The second showed the plane's debris falling on a bearded fighter, with the legend: "The Russian air force is intensifying its air strikes."

'Pure blasphemy' 

On Friday, Dmitry Peskov, the Russian government spokesman, said he thought the cartoons were "pure blasphemy" and had nothing to do with democracy or freedom of expression.

Russian politicians lined up on state TV over the weekend to echo his criticism.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, used Facebook to ask: "Is anyone still Charlie?"

It was a reference to the catchphrase, "Je Suis Charlie", used to express sympathy with the French magazine after assailants killed 11 people at its Paris headquarters in January.

Her question had attracted almost 4,500 "likes" by Sunday evening, along with an avalanche of comments, many of them expletive-laden.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, also weighed in, saying he thought the cartoonists responsible for the two images were not human.

Gerard Biard, Charlie Hebdo's editor-in-chief, was quoted in the French media as saying the accusation of blasphemy was "absurd".

The French foreign ministry said in a statement on its website that journalists in France were free to express their opinions, but that they did not reflect the views of the French government.

"We were among the first to express our condolences to the Russian people and authorities on Saturday, as soon as we learned of this terrible tragedy," the ministry said.

This article talks about how after the plane crash with the Metrojet Flight 9268, the French Charlie Hebdo produced political cartoons mocking Russia. Although I agree it might be insulting to Russia as a country, it wouldn't be any helpful if they blamed the French government. It would probably make matters worse to blame the French government for the actions of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. I feel like France has the freedom of speech, and the fact that even after their last attack from Islam terrorists, they're taking the dangerous measure of risking their lives to publish political cartoons shows how strong their opinions are. I think this fact shows that we should actually pay attention and think on this fact, than merely glimpsing by all their political cartoons. I think they're just expressing their feelings, even though it might put Russia to shame, it might even be the truth. Just like we shouldn't discriminate others opinions and ideas I don't think Russia should blame them that much.

 "Charlie Hebdo Plane-crash Cartoons Anger Russians." Aljazeera. Aljazeera Media Network, 9 Nov. 2015. Web. 9 Nov. 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/charlie-hebdo-plane-crash-cartoons-anger-russians-151109054925078.html>.