Azerbaijani jet crash is caused by several factors: expert on Russian air defenses downing passenger plane

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"This is an international crime because the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was struck over Russian territory. It should be noted that after committing this crime against a civilian aircraft, Russian terrorists covered their tracks by not allowing the plane to land and save passengers. Instead, they expelled it from their airspace. Thus, the damaged plane traveled 400 km before making an emergency landing in Kazakhstan," Riabykh commented.

According to him, a similar case occurred in Iran with the Ukrainian Boeing 737 PS-752 flight when a Russian Tor system, operated in automatic mode by Iranian terrorists, struck the Ukrainian aircraft.

"This is the result of several factors. First, the Russians boasted that Grozny was protected by Pantsir air defense systems. Earlier, they also bragged about testing some AI system that is supposedly very effective in automatic mode. Most likely, such a system was set to automatic mode, without restricting passenger flights, and it shot at anything it could," the military expert noted.

In his view, Russia should be entirely excluded from international air traffic, and its airspace closed.

"This is also a result of the inaction of countries that continue flights over Russia, including Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, which signed agreements with Russia stating the Caspian Sea should remain peaceful and not be used for warfare. However, for three years in a row, Russians have launched strikes on Ukraine from the Caspian Sea. Yet, there have been no official statements from Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan. Hopefully, this tragic incident will prompt these countries' leaders to analyze Russian terrorism and suspend air travel with the aggressor state," Riabykh emphasized.

• On the morning of December 25, a passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan's Aktau. It was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia. The crash claimed the lives of 38 people.