BAKU, Azerbaijan - An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation have told Reuters.
The Embraer passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, after diverting from an area of Russia in which Moscow has used air defence systems against Ukrainian drone strikes in recent months.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny, in the Chechnya region of Russia, and crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea, after what the Russian aviation regulator said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
Officials did not immediately explain why it had crossed the sea, but the crash came after Ukrainian drone strikes this month hit Chechnya in southern Russia. The nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
Caliber, a news website backed by the Azerbaijan government, said the plane was struck by a Russian air defence weapon while approaching Grozny. As a result of the use of electronic warfare systems by the Russians, the aircraft’s communication system was paralysed, the website reported.
Azerbaijan’s presidential office and the country’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately provide a comment when reached by phone. Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Russian, Azerbaijani and Kazakhstani officials have all called for investigations into the crash.
The Kremlin on Thursday cautioned against “hypotheses” over the crash.
“It would be wrong to make any hypotheses before the investigation’s conclusions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
NATO on Thursday called for a full investigation into the cause of the crash.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said in a post on X.
“We wish those injured in the crash a speedy recovery and call for a full investigation.”
Russian military expert Yury Podolyaka said holes seen in the wreckage of the plane were similar to the damage caused by an “anti-aircraft missile system”.
“Everything points to that,” he wrote.
A former expert at the French air accident investigation agency also said there appeared to be “a lot of shrapnel” damage on the wreckage.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, he said the damage was “reminiscent” of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was downed with a surface-to-air missile by Russia-backed rebels over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds before withdrawing the statement.
The airline said there were 62 passengers and five crew members on board. Kazakh officials said 38 people had been killed and there were 29 survivors, including three children.
Eleven of the injured are in intensive care, the Kazakh health ministry said. The Azerbaijan state news agency Azertac reported that 12 of the survivors were being flown to Azerbaijan.
A plane carrying nine injured Russian nationals arrived at Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region on Thursday, Russia’s emergency situations ministry said.