Russia May Be Responsible For The Crashed Azerbaijani Aircraft, US Claims

According to White House spokesperson John Kirby, the United States has received “early indications” that Russia may have been involved in the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft that killed 38 people on December 25. Mr. Kirby told reporters that the United States had offered to help with the crash inquiry, but he did not go into further detail.

Before being rerouted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, where it crashed, the aircraft is believed to have been shot down by Russian air defense systems while attempting to land in Chechnya. The head of Russia’s civil aviation department stated that the situation in Chechnya is “very complicated” because of Ukrainian drone strikes on the territory, however the Kremlin has declined to comment.

According to Mr. Kirby, the US had seen more than just the widely shared images of the damaged aircraft, as reported by the Washington Post. The plane was destroyed by shrapnel from Russian air-defense missile bursts after its GPS systems were hampered by electronic jamming, according to Azerbaijani aviation specialists and others.

Despite not blaming Russia, Azerbaijan’s transport minister claimed that the plane was damaged inside and out during its attempt to land due to “external interference.”

“All [the survivors] without exception stated they heard three blast sounds when the aircraft was above Grozny,” stated Rashad Nabiyev.

According to Mr. Nabiyev, investigators will now look into “what kind of weapon, or rather what kind of rocket was used.”

But pro-government MP Rasim Musabekov was unambiguous: “The plane was shot down in the sky above Grozny, over Russian territory. This cannot be denied.

The pilot had requested an emergency landing in Grozny due to damage to the aircraft, he told the AFP news agency. He said that rather of being guided to adjacent airports, it was “sent far away” across the Caspian Sea without GPS.

Over Chechnya, flight attendant Zulfuqar Asadov recounted the moments when “some kind of external strike” struck the aircraft.

“Its impact made me panic inside. We made an effort to reassure them and get them seated. My arm was hurt when another blow occurred at that precise instant.

Despite being killed in the disaster, the pilots of the Embraer 190 are credited with saving 29 of the people on board by successfully landing a portion of the aircraft. Regarding the growing number of claims that Russian air defense struck the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft, the Kremlin has made no statement.

“An investigation into this aviation incident is underway and until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation, we do not consider ourselves entitled to give any assessments,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson.

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In addition to providing medical care to the injured, Kazakh officials have been actively collaborating with Azerbaijan on the inquiry.

The incident has been investigated by a committee from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional organization controlled by Russia, according to reports in Baku. However, Azerbaijan has insisted on an international investigation.

-Deeprows News