A Russian missile missed it direction may be behind the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Kazakhstan, investigation reported
According to the Kazakhstani government, who released it investigation report about the Azerbaijani plane crash in Kazakhstan and all its passengers with pilots’ team were killed, the report said more details about the extensive damage to the plane fuselage, tail, and right engine, but does not offer a definitive cause of the crash.
Dozens of holes in the fuselage
The 53-page report calls for further investigations and expert analyses to define the reason of the damage. Meanwhile, Reuters, citing a source in the Azerbaijani government, reported that the plane was struck by a Pantzer-S surface-to-air missile defense system.
- The Azerbaijani side possesses a fragment of a Pantzer-S missile which was extracted from the aircraft and identified through international expertise – the source stated.
The crash occurred on 25 December 2024, in the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, resulting in 38 fatalities. The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was in route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya. On board were 16 Russians, several citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, with the majority of passengers being Azerbaijani citizens.
Russian president Putin apologized right after the crash
The black boxes from the Embraer-190 plane were sent to Brazil for analysis, involving Azerbaijani, Russian, and Kazakh experts, before being handed over to Kazakhstan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated on 29 December that the plane was damaged due to accidental fire from Russian territory during an attack by Ukrainian drones on facilities in Chechnya.
A Russian Missel may missed its direction during its defense against Ukrainian drone, hit the plane by wrong.
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, apologized in a phone conversation with Aliyev for the “tragic incident” involving the Azerbaijani plane, although the Kremlin did not directly admit that a Russian missile struck the Embraer-190.
