Government officials in Azerbaijan say Russian anti-aircraft fire brought down an airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing dozens of people aboard the plane, according to local reports.
The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was flying from Baku, the nation’s capital, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, when a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system launched the attack, officials told ANEWZ, an Azerbaijan TV news channel.
The planned route would have taken the Embraer 190 aircraft northwest across Azerbaijan to Grozny in southern Russia, about 330 miles away. Instead, it diverted across the Caspian Sea toward the Kazakh city of Aktau. Officials in Azerbaijan told local media that Russian air defense also used electronic warfare to disable the aircraft, which it apparently believed may have been a Ukrainian attack drone.
“The communication system of the Azerbaijani aircraft was completely paralyzed,” ANEWZ said. “It was with this circumstance that the plane disappeared from radars in the Russian airspace and was restored only in the area of the Caspian Sea.”
The airport in Grozny has been targeted by Ukraine in the past as part of its war with Russia.
The airline crew established contact with the tower at the airport in Aktau when it entered Kazakhstan airspace. The runway lights were turned on to help with the landing, but air traffic controllers observed “chaotic changes” to the plane’s altitude, according to Kazinform, the state-owned Kazakh news agency.
The pilot made two attempts to approach the Aktau airfield runway, then diverted toward the coastline where it crashed, killing at least 38 out of 67 people on board. On Thursday, officials in Baku instituted a day of mourning for the victims.
“I pray for Allah’s mercy upon those who lost their lives in the plane crash. I extend my condolences and pray for patience for their families and loved ones,” Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said. “This is a great tragedy, a significant loss for the people of Azerbaijan.”
Mr. Aliyev was told about the crash while he flew to St. Petersburg in Russia for a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States, an agency formed following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He returned to Baku and ordered the government to begin an inquiry into what happened.
“The commission’s task is to fully investigate the matter, examine the causes of the crash and all its details, and provide information both to me and to the Azerbaijani public,” Mr. Aliyev said.
While government officials in Azerbaijan have suggested Russia shot down their airliner, Mr. Aliyev warned against making public accusations until the official inquiry is finished.
“The reasons for the crash are not yet known to us. There are various theories, but I believe it is premature to discuss them,” he said. “The matter must be thoroughly investigated.”