Despite initial claims that the plane had suffered a birdstrike and Russia’s efforts to pour cold water on what it has described as ‘speculation,’ commentators have claimed it could have been anti-aircraft fire
An Azerbaijan Airline plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was allegedly shot down by Russian air fences, experts and Ukrainian authorities have claimed. The flight, from Baku in Azerbaijan, crashed claiming the lives of 38 people – leaving many questions about what caused it. Miraculously, some of the 67 people onboard have survived, however initial reports suggest the disaster was caused by a birdstrike have now been called into question.
Multiple sources and individuals have made claims to that effect, including former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt said it was “likely that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was hit by shrapnel”.
It bore similarities to the words of Kazakh aviation expert Serik Mukhtybayev, who said it was “nearly impossible” that they were hit by a bird.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Matt Borie, chief intelligence officer at Osprey Flight Solutions, said: “Video of the wreckage and the circumstances around the airspace security environment in southwest Russia indicates the possibility the aircraft was hit by some form of antiaircraft fire.”
Meanwhile, Andriy Kovalenko, an official of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said: “The holes in the plane’s fuselage during the flight are not caused by birds,” and added that a surface-to-air missile “damaged the plane and disabled its systems”.
Meanwhile, Reuters says it has four sources that have confirmed it was downed by Russian air defences.
Russia, however, has implored people not to speculate on the cause of the crash, while its president Vladimir Putin said he “offer[ed] condolences to the families of the deceased and to all the injured.”
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, whose forces have been linked by some commentators to the possible aircraft defences, said on Telegram: “I express my condolences to the relatives of the deceased passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Aktau while en route from Baku to Grozny.”