Russia says an Azerbaijani plane attempted to land during the drone strike in Ukraine

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday after attempting to land at its destination in Grozny and then veering away from the Caspian Sea.

Thirty-eight of the 67 on board died, with some reports suggesting the plane may have been accidentally shot down by Russian air defenses.

A surviving passenger told Russian television that an explosion appeared to take place outside the plane, with shrapnel flying inside.

The head of Russia’s civil aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, said in a statement that “the situation today and at this time in the Grozny airport area was very complex.”

“Attack drones from Ukraine at this time were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadrov said, referring to a nearby city.

Yadrov said the Azeri pilot made “two unsuccessful attempts to land the plane in Grozny” in “thick fog”.

“The pilot was offered other airports. He made the decision to go to Aktau airport,” he added.

Early Friday, the Kremlin declined to comment on the deadly crash.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “until the conclusions of the investigation, we do not consider that we have the right to make any comments and we will not do so.”

Some aviation and military experts have pointed to apparent shrapnel damage on the plane’s wreckage as evidence that it was hit by air defenses.

Azerbaijan’s pro-government website Caliber and several other media outlets quoted unnamed Azerbaijani officials as saying they believed a Russian missile fired from a Pantsir-S air defense system caused the plane to crash.

Ukraine’s presidency said Russia “must be held responsible for shooting down” the plane.

Shrapnel

Russian survivor Subkhonkul Rakhimov told state broadcaster RT that an explosion appeared to have taken place outside the plane, causing shrapnel to enter the interior.

He said the explosion occurred as the plane made its third attempt to land in Grozny in fog.

“The third time there was an explosion. I wouldn’t say it was inside the plane because the skin of the fuselage near where I was sitting flew off,” he said.

“I got a life jacket and saw there was a hole in it – it was riddled with shrapnel.”

“Somewhere between my legs, this piece of shrapnel flew and went right through the life jacket. I took a picture of the hole on my phone.”

The daughter of a steward on the plane told AFP that her father, Zulfugar Asadov, was treated in hospital for head and back injuries but did not break any bones.

“He’s in pain, his back hurts, he can’t talk much,” the woman, Konula Asadova, told AFP.

Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it was suspending flights to 10 Russian cities, “taking into account risks related to flight safety”.

Apologizes

Contacted by AFP, Azeri government officials did not respond to questions about the possible causes of the accident.

But Rasim Musabekov, an Azeri lawmaker and member of parliament’s international relations committee, called on Russia to apologize for the incident.

“They must accept this, punish the guilty, promise that this will not happen again, express their regrets and willingness to pay compensation,” Musabekov told AFP.

“We’re waiting for Russia to do that.”

He said the plane “was damaged in the sky over Grozny and asked to make an emergency landing.”

“According to all the rules of aviation, they should have allowed this and organized it.”

Instead, the plane was not allowed to land in Grozny or nearby Russian airports and was “sent away” across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan with “GPS turned off,” Musabekov said.

He suggested that the purpose may have been for the plane to crash into the sea to “cover up a crime”.

If the anti-aircraft defense was operating near the Grozny airport, “they should have closed the airspace. The plane should have been overturned when approaching Grozny. Why wasn’t this done?” he added.

scholarship/dt/phz

© 2024 AFP