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Azerbaijani lawmaker: "Very likely" that the plane was shot down by Russia

2024-12-27 20:07:12, Kosova & Bota CNA

Azerbaijani lawmaker: "Very likely" that the plane was shot down by

An Azerbaijani lawmaker has said there is a "high possibility" that the downing of a passenger jet earlier this week was caused by Russia's air defense systems that were on alert for Ukrainian drone strikes.

Rumors have grown that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which was flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya, may have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missile before crossing the Caspian Sea and crashing near Aktau in Kazakhstan. , leaving 38 passengers and crew dead.

Lawmaker Hikmat Babaoghlu told RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service in an interview on December 27 that such an explanation is in all likelihood "closest to the truth".

"This is only a possibility, but a very strong one, and the observations and conclusions drawn so far support the idea that the downing of the plane by a gunshot is closer to the truth," he said.

"In this particular case, the incident involved damage to the aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines within the territory of the Russian Federation, which caused the crash that occurred there. Therefore, there is no doubt that the responsibility lies with the Russian Federation. If these assumptions are correct, the responsibility undoubtedly falls on Russia," he added.

Experts from Kazakhstan arrived on December 27 to examine the crash site and black box of the passenger plane, as speculation - and evidence - is mounting that a Russian air defense missile may have accidentally hit the plane.

While the investigation continues, the countries where the victims of the plane crash come from - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan - continue to mourn the dead and treat the injured from the crash of the Embraer 190.

Since the plane crash, uncertainty has rocked the aviation industry across the Caucasus.

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight to the Russian city of Mineralnye Vody took off from Baku on December 27, but then turned back unexpectedly after receiving a notification that the Russian airspace it was supposed to pass through was closed.

Azerbaijan Airlines later said it had suspended flights to several Russian cities, including Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny and Makhachkala.

Rumors of the tragedy have mounted, with some experts citing holes spotted in the back of the plane as a possible sign that it may have been hit by Russian air defense systems deployed to deter drone attacks from Ukraine.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told news agencies that indications are that a Russian anti-aircraft system hit the plane, without providing any evidence.

The evidence, much of which has not been confirmed by authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan or Russia, includes footage of the plane's interior before it crashed, photographs showing holes in the plane's tail after the crash, comments from a survivor, and testimony left by it is understood that a drone strike was suspected at the time the plane attempted to land in Grozny.

Commenting on unconfirmed reports that the plane may have been brought down by a missile, Kazakhstan Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbaev said it was "impossible" to say what might have damaged the plane until the investigation is complete.

The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, made a similar statement, saying: "We have to wait for the conclusion of the investigation." Peskov added that it is a "mistake" to speculate before investigators draw their conclusions.

According to the officials, in addition to the 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, six from Kazakhstan and three citizens from Kyrgyzstan were registered on board the flight "J2-8243".

Among the survivors are nine Russian citizens, who were flown to Moscow on December 26 by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to Russian health authorities, three of the Russian survivors are in critical condition./ REL