Senior Azerbaijani officials confirmed to Anadolu on Thursday that an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau city, reportedly due to a Russian missile strike.
According to Azerbaijani media, preliminary investigations suggest the plane, an Embraer 190, was targeted by a Pantsir missile system as it neared Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic. Reports also indicate that Russian electronic warfare systems disrupted the aircraft’s communications, causing it to temporarily vanish from radar before reappearing over the Caspian Sea.
The flight, carrying 67 passengers, was en route from Baku to Grozny when it crashed three kilometers from Aktau. Kazakh authorities reported 38 fatalities, with 29 survivors. Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident.
Initially, Azerbaijan Airlines and Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency attributed the crash to bird strikes. However, footage showing significant tail damage has raised suspicions of the aircraft being shot down. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, urging patience until investigations conclude.
