Azerbaijan claims that before the crash, the plane was shot down due to “external interference” over Russia

Azerbaijan’s transport minister said the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on December 25 was subjected to “external interference” and was damaged internally and externally as it attempted to land in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.

“All (survivors) without exception stated that they heard three explosions when the plane was over Grozny,” said Rashad Nabiev.

The plane is believed to have been fired upon by Russian air defense systems before being diverted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, where it crashed with 38 casualties.

The Kremlin declined to comment, but the head of Russia’s civil aviation agency said the situation in Grozny at the time was “very difficult” and a closed-sky protocol had been put in place.

“Ukrainian combat drones carried out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” said the head of the Russian Air Force Dmitry Yadrov in a video statement published by the Russian news agency TASS.

“In connection with this, a “carpet plan” was introduced in the area of ​​the Grozny airport, which provides for the immediate departure of all planes from the specified area,” he said. “In addition, there was thick fog in the area of ​​the Grozny airport.”

The press secretary of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that Russia should bear the responsibility for the disaster.

Azerbaijan Airlines said on Friday that a preliminary investigation blamed both “physical and technical external interference”, without elaborating.

However, aviation experts and other Azerbaijani experts believe that the plane’s GPS systems were damaged by electronic jamming, and then it was damaged by shrapnel from Russian anti-aircraft missile blasts.

The Minister of Transport said that now the investigation will find out “which weapon, more precisely, which missile was used.”

The government in Baku has so far avoided direct accusations against Russia, perhaps to avoid antagonizing President Vladimir Putin.

However, pro-government MP Rasim Musabekov was clear: “The plane was shot down over the territory of Russia, in the sky over Grozny. It is impossible to deny it.”

He told AFP that the plane was damaged and the pilot requested an emergency landing in Grozny. Instead of directing him to nearby airports, he said he was “sent far” across the Caspian Sea without GPS.

Flight attendant Zulfukar Asadav described the moments when the plane was hit by “some external impact” over Chechnya.

“The impact inside caused panic. We tried to calm them down, put them down. At that moment there was another blow, my hand was injured.”

Veteran Azerbaijani pilot Tahir Agaghuliyev told Azerbaijani media that the fragments damaged the hydraulics that controlled the plane: “The missile itself did not hit the plane; it was shrapnel from a missile that hit. The missile exploded about 10 m (30 ft) away, before reaching the aircraft.’

The pilots of the Embraer 190 are credited with saving 29 of those on board as they managed to land part of the plane despite being killed in the crash.

The Kremlin refused to comment on the increasing number of reports that the “Azerbaijan Airlines” plane was shot down by the Russian Air Force.

“The investigation of this aviation incident is ongoing, and until conclusions are drawn based on the results of the investigation, we do not consider ourselves entitled to make any assessments,” said press secretary Dmitriy Piaskov.

Azerbaijan is demanding an apology from Russia or at least an acknowledgment that the plane was shot down by air defenses in Grozny, according to people close to the government in Baku.

Four years ago, Baku apologized for offering compensation when a Russian Mi-24 helicopter was shot down at the end of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Now the Azerbaijani side is also waiting for these steps from Russia,” said political analyst Farhad Mammadov.

The authorities of Kazakhstan are providing assistance to the victims and are cooperating closely with Azerbaijan in the investigation.

Officials say Brazilian plane maker Embraer has sent two specialists to the crash site, 3 km (1.9 miles) from Kazakhstan’s Aktau airport, and three officials from Brazil’s aviation agency will arrive on Saturday.

Reports in Baku indicate that both Russia and Kazakhstan have proposed that a committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional organization dominated by Russia, investigate the disaster, but Azerbaijan has demanded an international investigation instead.

In connection with the disaster, “Azerbaijan Airlines” and several other airlines suspended flights to some Russian cities.

In a social media post, the airline said it was “for security reasons”. It has already suspended flights to Grozny and Makhachkala in neighboring Dagestan, but has now added the cities of Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara and Mineralnye Vody.

Meanwhile, Israel’s main airline El Al suspended all flights to Moscow, citing developments in Russian airspace, while UAE-based budget carrier Flydubai suspended flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody.