Plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was shot down by Pantsir-S air defence system, Baku awaits Russia's confession – Reuters

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny that crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan was shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system.

Source: Reuters, citing its sources

Quote: "One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan's investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. Its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny."

Details: One of the sources indicates that no one claims that this was done intentionally. "However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft," the source said.

Three other sources confirmed that the Azerbaijani investigation had reached the same preliminary conclusion. The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters reports that flight J2-8243 crashed in a firestorm after it veered off course from the southern region of Russia, where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian drones.

The plane was flying from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny, in southern Chechnya, before veering off course, flying hundreds of kilometres over the Caspian Sea.

It crashed on the opposite side of the Caspian Sea after what Russian aviation authorities said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

Officials did not explain why the plane crossed the sea. The nearest Russian airport on the plane's flight path, Makhachkala, was closed on the morning of 25 December.

Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said he could neither confirm nor deny the thesis that the plane was shot down by Russian air defences.

When asked about the possibility that Russian air defence systems shot down the plane, the Kazakh transport prosecutor of the region where the plane crashed said that the investigation had not yet reached a final conclusion.

Background:

• On 25 December, an Embraer aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines en route from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau, the administrative centre of Kazakhstan's Mangistau Oblast. According to Azerbaijan Airlines, 67 people were on board, including 5 crew members. Of these, 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 were Russians, 6 were Kazakhs, and 3 were Kyrgyz nationals.
• The KazAeroNavigation company believes that the crash was caused by a collision with a bird and a steering failure. Russian media outlets also do not rule out the possibility that the plane could have changed course due to the threat of a drone attack on Chechnya. Early reports indicate that Grozny was attacked by several UAVs at that moment, which led to the announcement of the Kovyor (Carpet) plan at the city's airport [A Kovyor plan is an airport operational safety procedure for airport services and personnel when an unidentified object appears in the sky – ed.].
• The crash killed 38 people, said Kanat Bozumbayev, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and head of the state commission leading the investigation into the causes of the crash.
• The Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation said that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
• Euronews sources indicate that the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny on 25 December was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile that exploded nearby.

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