A plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people. Reuters reports that four people who know about Azerbaijan’s early investigation findings told them that Russian air defence systems accidentally shot down the plane.
The plane burst into flames and crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. Before crashing, it had changed its route to avoid an area in southern Russia where Russian forces often use air defence systems to shoot down Ukrainian drones.
The passenger plane, made by Embraer, first flew from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny, Russia’s Chechnya region. Then, for unclear reasons, it flew hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea. Russia’s aviation officials said the crash might have been caused by birds hitting the plane, but they didn’t explain why the plane crossed the sea. The closest Russian airport, Makhachkala, was closed that morning.
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One person familiar with Azerbaijan’s investigation told Reuters that early findings show a Russian Pantsir-S defence system hit the plane. They also said that electronic warfare systems disrupted the plane’s communications as it was trying to land in Grozny. This source added, “No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft.”
Three other sources confirmed that Azerbaijan’s investigation reached the same early conclusion.
A U.S. official also told Reuters there were early signs that a Russian anti-aircraft system might have hit the plane. Canada expressed serious concern about reports that Russian air defence might have struck the aircraft.
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