Russian air defenses shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, resulting in the deaths of 38 people, according to four sources familiar with the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation, as reported by Reuters on Thursday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a fireball near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area in southern Russia where Moscow has frequently employed air defense systems in response to Ukrainian drone strikes.
The Embraer passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region before deviating hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.
It crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea following what Russia’s aviation watchdog previously indicated was an emergency situation, potentially caused by a bird strike.
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Officials did not clarify why the plane had crossed the sea. The nearest Russian airport along the plane’s flight path, Makhachkala, was closed on Wednesday morning.
One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system.
Its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny, the source said.
“No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft,” the source said.
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