The crashed passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines in Kazakhstan has been the subject of “external interference“, the “Reuters“ agency reported, citing an official statement from the airline.
For the first time, Azerbaijan Airlines has announced that the cause of the serious crash was not weather conditions or pilot error, but “external and technical interference“.
Earlier, government sources in Baku accused Russia of shooting down the plane. Shrapnel from a Russian missile is believed to have hit the passenger plane flying to Grozny, after which Russian authorities closed their airports and diverted the plane to Kazakhstan, where it later crashed.
Euronews sources in the Azerbaijani government told Euronews that the crew of the crashed plane requested an emergency landing but were not allowed to land at any Russian airport and were ordered to fly over the Caspian Sea towards Aktau, Kazakhstan. Nearly 40 people died in the incident.
The Russian government today refused to comment on allegations that a Russian air defense system caused the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane on Wednesday, which killed 38 people, DPA reported, BTA reported.
Moscow is aware of the statements made in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. They include demands that Russia apologize for the fact that the plane was hit by a Russian missile and crashed as a result, the agency recalls. Peskov refused to apologize and repeated that the results of the investigation into the crash must first be made public.
Russia is responsible for the crash of the Azerbaijani Airlines plane, which killed 38 people, Andriy Yermak, head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on "Telegram", quoted by DPA.
Moscow must be held accountable for the "shooting down" the plane, he stressed. Russia warned against speculating on the topic and called for waiting for the results of the investigation into the cause of the crash. Several media outlets, citing unnamed sources in the Azerbaijani government, reported that a plane flying from Baku to Grozny had crashed in Kazakhstan as a result of a Russian anti-aircraft missile.