An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, was shot down by a Russian air defense system, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The report cited four Azerbaijani sources familiar with the investigation into the accident. One of the sources said preliminary results showed the plane had hit the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system, and its communications had been disabled by electronic warfare systems on approach to Grozny, Reuters reported.
“Nobody claims it was intentional,” the source told Reuters. “However, taking into account the established facts, Baku hopes that the Russian side will confess to shooting down the Azerbaijani aircraft.”
Officials in Russia and Kazakhstan have remained silent after the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, with dozens of people on board.
Russia is being blamed for an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed hundreds of miles away, killing dozens
A crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Christmas Day killed 38 people. (Azmat Sarsenbayev)
A Ukrainian national security official has blamed Russian air defense gunfire for the deadly crash, which killed 38 people on Christmas Day.
According to Kazakh officials, the Embraer 190 passenger jet flying from Azerbaijan to Russia was carrying 62 passengers and five crew. It was drifted hundreds of miles off its intended path to crash on the opposite coast of the Caspian Sea. Thirty-nine people survived.
Video of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly before bursting into flames and billowing thick black smoke as it hit the beach, Reuters reported.
The plane was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, the Associated Press reported. (Administration of Mangystau region)
Officials did not immediately say why the plane crossed the ocean, but a crash occurred shortly after drone attacks Attack on southern Russia. Drone activity had closed airports in the region in the past day and the nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the cause of the crash was being investigated. According to an Associated Press report, he told reporters that “it would be wrong to speculate before investigators have made their verdict.”
Kazakhstan’s parliamentary speaker Maulen Ashimbayev also warned against drawing conclusions based on photographs of aircraft fragments, calling allegations of air defense shooting down baseless and “immoral”.
According to the AP, other officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have also declined to comment on the cause of the crash and pointed to an ongoing investigation for answers.
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Emergency crews at the site of the Azerbaijani plane crash on December 25, 2024. (Azmat Sarsenbayev)
Earlier, Ukrainian national security official Andriy Kovalenko had blamed “Russian air-defense systems” for the crash in an ex-post on Wednesday.
Kovalenko claimed, “However, it is inconvenient for everyone to admit it, so efforts will be made to hide it, even holes in the remaining parts of the plane.”
Aviation-security firm Osprey Flight Solutions also said the flight was “likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system,” The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night.
“The video of the wreckage and the circumstances surrounding the airspace security environment in southwest Russia indicate that the aircraft was hit by some type of antiaircraft fire,” Osprey chief intelligence officer Matt Sacks said in an interview.
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St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov lays flowers at the Azerbaijan Consulate in memory of crash victims in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Meanwhile, Russia’s aviation watchdog said it was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning on Thursday for the 38 victims of the plane crash. National flags were flown at half-mast across the country, traffic was halted at noon and signals were rung from ships and trains as people observed silence nationwide, the AP reported.
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“We will never forget our dear people lost in the crash of the ‘Embraer-190’ plane,” Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement on Thursday. “This loss leaves a deep wound in the hearts of the entire community. It reminds us to be more compassionate and connected to each other.”
“May the souls of those who tragically lost their lives rest in peace, and may their memories live forever.”
Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias and Elizabeth Pritchett, along with Reuters and the Associated Press, contributed to this report.
