Russia shoots down Azerbaijani passenger plane – Reuters
27 December 06:16
Russian air defense forces shot down a passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, killing 38 people. This was reported by Reuters, citing four sources familiar with the preliminary results of the investigation, Komersant ukrainskyi reports
Flight J2-8243 crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after taking off from an area in southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defense systems against Ukrainian drone strikes.
Thus, one of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with the investigation told the publication that preliminary results showed that the plane was hit by the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system. And the plane’s communication with controllers was paralyzed by electronic warfare systems on the approach to Grozny, the source noted.
“No one claims that this was done intentionally. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to shooting down the Azerbaijani plane,” the source stated.
Three other sources confirmed that the Azerbaijani investigation had reached the same preliminary conclusion.
A U.S. official told Reuters that there are indications that the plane may have been shot down by a Russian air defense system. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that if the indications are accurate, they would underscore Russia’s recklessness in invading Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozymbayev said he could neither confirm nor deny the thesis that the plane was shot down by Russian air defense systems.
Answering a question about the possibility that Russian air defense fired at the plane, the Kazakh transport prosecutor of the region where the plane crashed said that the investigation had not yet reached a final conclusion.
In turn, the Russian Federation refused to comment on anything until the investigation into the crash is completed.
Earlier, Euronews, citing sources in the Azerbaijani government, wrote that the Russians attacked the plane on the approach to Grozny with a missile from the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system, and then forbade it to land at Russian airports and jammed communications with electronic warfare.
On December 25, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan. Then 38 people died. A total of 67 people were on board, mostly Azerbaijani citizens.
