The plane of Azerbaijan Airlines that crashed into Kazakhstan suffered “external interference, physical and technical“, the airline stated this Friday, citing the preliminary results of a investigation fueling speculation that the ship was hit by Russian defense missiles.
The plane Embraer 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines, with 67 people on board, carried out a flight of Bakucapital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, capital of the republic of Chechnyaon Russian territory.
The plane crashed under circumstances that are still unclear and caught fire near Aktaua sea port Caspio in the west of Kazakhstan which is far from the planned itinerary. Kazakhstan authorities reported 38 deaths.
Azerbaijan Airlines announced that it is suspending its flights to several Russian cities due to “the preliminary results of the investigation into the accident of the Embraer 190 aircraft operating the Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 of Azerbaijan Airlines point to external, physical and technical interference.”
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He Kremlin said this Friday that will not give statements until the investigation is completed, following reports that the ship was hit by Russian defense missiles.
“There is an investigation underway, and until the conclusions are known, we consider that we do not have the right to make any comments and we will not do so,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the press.
However, the director of the Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia, Dmitri Yadrovstated on Telegram that the situation at Grozny airport on Wednesday is “very difficult” due to the attacks of “ukrainian military drones“.
“At that time, Ukrainian military drones launched terrorist attacks against civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadrov said, referring to another town in the Caucaso Russian.
“Burst”
None of the countries concerned have publicly confirmed the hypothesis that the ship was hit by missile fire as it approached the destination airport in Russia, and that it managed to move away and crashed in Kazakhstan.
The Azerbaijani deputy Rasim Musabekov declared to AFP that “An investigation is underway to determine whether it was a Russian air defense shot or another cause.“.
Musabekov highlighted that “the photos and videos show the plane’s fuselage with holes that are normally caused by air defense missiles.”
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An American official who spoke on condition of anonymitystated on Thursday that there are indications that a Russian air defense system hit the crashed plane.
The official added that if these indications are confirmed, it would reveal what the United States describes as the “temerity” of Russia in the offensive in Ukraine.
Several media outlets, citing Azerbaijani government sources, reported the hypothesis of a demolition.
Subjonkul Rajimova passenger who survived, told Russian state media that an explosion occurred outside the plane.
“I wouldn’t say it happened inside because part of the fuselage near where I was sitting flew away,” he said.