Azerbaijan Airlines crash sparks speculation the plane was “accidentally shot down by Russia”
The crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane on Christmas Day, fueling speculation that the plane was shot down by Russia, detoured hundreds of miles and crashed in the wrong direction with multiple holes in its fuselage.
Russian military bloggers said the plane that crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau may have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone.
The incident, which killed at least 38 people and injured 29 others, occurred after a rather long detour and may have been caused by GPS interference.
On Wednesday, the Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing 3 kilometers from Aktau, the oil and gas center on the east coast of the Caspian Sea.
The flight was from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in the North Caucasus region.
Credit: @clashreport/X
Video of the crash circulated online showed the plane descending sharply before hitting the ground in a fireball.
Other footage showed part of the fuselage detaching from the wing and the rest of the plane lying on the grass.
Russian military blogs and some aviation analysts said the holes in the plane’s fuselage may have been caused by shrapnel from anti-aircraft missiles.
Credit: @clashreport/X
Before the plane made an emergency landing, the crew reported a mid-air collision, which Russian aviation authorities initially suspected was caused by a flock of birds.
However, it was later revealed that an oxygen tank on the plane had exploded, fueling speculation that the collision was actually an encounter with a Russian air defense system.
Credit: X/@yarotrof
Vladimir Putin’s forces have militarized the area over which the plane flew, and the route was not diverted as planned by the airline.
The plane was trying to land at the Russian airport in Grozny when it was attacked by a Ukrainian drone.
Telegram channel Baza, which has links to Russian security services, said that “the holes look like traces left after shelling or explosions, with an eye-catching element.”
Emergency rescue experts work at the scene of a passenger plane crash near Aktau – AZAMAT SARSENBAYEV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Rybar, an influential Telegram channel with 1.3 million subscribers, also confirmed Bazar’s description, saying the damage to the fuselage was similar to “the striking part of an anti-aircraft missile.”
He continued: “The plane itself was heading towards Grozny – where attacks by Ukrainian drones were actually repelled. Several drones were hit over North Ossetia and Vladikavkaz, adjacent to Ingushetia. shoot down.
An oxygen tank exploded on the plane – Azamat Sarsenbayev
After the accident, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he would return from Russia, where he was scheduled to attend a summit on Wednesday, Russian news agencies reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin expressed his deep sympathy to Aliyev after the accident.
“Unfortunately, Azerbaijani President Aliyev was forced to leave St. Petersburg. Putin has called him to express his condolences over the crash of an Azerbaijani plane in Aktau.
He added: “We express our deepest sympathies to those who lost relatives and friends in this crash and wish all survivors a speedy recovery.”
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