Russian missile suspected in Kazakhstan plane tragedy
A preliminary investigation confirms that the plane crash, which occurred on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan, was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile, Euronews reported on Thursday, citing sources in the Azerbaijani government. The aircraft in question was an Embraer-190 operated by the Azerbaijani carrier Azerbaijan Airlines.
The plane, on a flight from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, crashed Wednesday morning near Aktau, Kazakhstan. Out of the 67 people on board, 38 lost their lives.
On Wednesday evening, the initial investigation suggested that the aircraft most likely collided with a flock of birds, which led to a control system failure. After the collision, it was reported that the plane was redirected to avoid flying over a mountain range, heading towards Aktau on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. During the emergency landing attempt, the aircraft broke apart and caught fire.
Sources: The missile was fired toward the plane, aiming at a drone
On Thursday, initial speculations arose that the plane was targeted by a Russian air defense system. While the official cause of the crash has not yet been made public, Euronews, citing sources in the Azerbaijani government, reported that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused it.
According to informants, the missile was launched at the plane as Russian air defense attempted to thwart an attack by Ukrainian drones over Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, part of the Russian Federation. The missile reportedly exploded near the aircraft, with fragments impacting the plane. Sources also state that the crew of the damaged plane was denied permission - despite their requests - to make an emergency landing at any Russian airport and were instructed to head towards Aktau.
Footage from inside the plane, shared on Telegram by survivors, shows that some passengers were bleeding even before the plane crashed.
Material published by the opposition Russian TV station Nastojaszczeje Wriemia (banned in Russia) shows that the rear of the plane appears to be riddled with holes, resembling gunfire damage.
On Thursday morning, blogger Azamat Sarsenbayev was detained for filming the crash site with a drone. The official reason for his detention was non-compliance with police orders. He was sentenced to 10 days in detention. The blogger claims he filmed the site at the request of the BBC and Reuters.
