Russia’s aviation chief said Friday that a Ukrainian drone attack was underway in the Chechnya region as an Azerbaijani airliner attempted to land before diverting to Kazakhstan and crashing there at the start of the week.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, did not comment on statements by an Azerbaijani lawmaker and numerous aviation experts who blamed Wednesday’s crash on air defense fire Russian.
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that are still unclear and went sideways. crashed while attempting to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east across the country. Caspian Sea. The accident killed 38 people and injured 29 survivors.
Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement that it would suspend flights to more Russian cities “following the preliminary results of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft operating flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny, caused by a physical and technical interference, and considering potential risks to flight safety.
The airline did not specify what it meant by “physical and technical interference.”
As Azerbaijan mourns the 38 people killed aboard a flight that crashed in Kazakhstan, experts point to signs suggesting a missile, potentially Russian, was responsible.
Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Russian authorities have remained tight-lipped about the possible causes of the accident pending an official investigation, but an Azerbaijani lawmaker blamed Moscow. Rasim Musabekov told Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency on Thursday that the plane was targeted while flying over Grozny and urged Russia to issue a formal apology.
Asked about Musabekov’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, saying it would be up to investigators to determine the cause of the accident.
“The air incident is under investigation and we do not believe we have the right to make any assessment until the conclusions are drawn as a result of the investigation,” Peskov said during ‘a conference call with journalists.
Yadrov, the Russian aviation chief, said that as the plane prepared to land in Grozny in thick fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting Grozny, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land in Grozny, he was offered other airports as an alternative, but he decided to fly to Aktau by crossing the Caspian Sea.
“The situation in the Grozny airport area was quite difficult,” he said in a statement. “There are many circumstances that need to be jointly investigated.”
Azerbaijani investigators are working in Grozny as part of the investigation into the accident, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.
Experts believe the plane was probably hit by the Russian defense system
As the official investigation into the crash began, some aviation experts pointed out that holes seen in the plane’s tail suggested it may have been the target of fire from Russian air defense systems repelling a Ukrainian drone attack.
Ukrainian drones have previously attacked Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, as well as other regions of the North Caucasus. A Chechen official said another drone attack on the region was repelled on Wednesday, although federal authorities did not report it.
FlightRadar24 said in an online article that the plane experienced “strong GPS jamming” that interfered with flight tracking data. Russia has made extensive use of sophisticated jamming equipment to repel drone attacks.
Airline suspends flights to more Russian cities
After suspending flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala on Wednesday, Azerbaijan Airlines also suspended flights to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa and Samara on Friday.
The company will continue to operate flights to six other Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan. These towns have also been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes in the past.
The Kazakh company Qazaq Air also announced on Friday that it was suspending its flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, for a month.
The day before, Israeli El Al had suspended its flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow, citing “the evolution of Russian airspace”. The airline said it would reassess the situation next week to decide whether to resume flights.
