Russia behind downing of Azerbaijani plane that crashed in Kazakhstan - expert

Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko explained the cause of the plane crash that left 38 people dead on a flight from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia.

According to the military expert, footage from inside the plane shows external damage, confirming it was sustained in airspace during the flight from Russia to Kazakhstan, specifically over Chechnya. Additionally, the footage shows passengers bleeding from injuries, which clearly indicates that the plane’s fuselage was pierced.

Kovalenko believes these and other pieces of evidence suggest the plane was hit by a short- or medium-range surface-to-air missile, possibly from the Russian Pantsir-S1 system.

"The footage provides detailed documentation of the damage to the plane, allowing us to confidently say that a surface-to-air missile hit the passenger plane. Most likely, it was a Pantsir-S1 system, and once Russia realized it had struck a civilian plane, they made the appalling decision to redirect it to Kazakhstan, rather than to one of their own airports," Kovalenko explained.

The expert also stated that Russia's goal in rerouting the plane to Kazakhstan was to hide evidence of yet another crime. Now, Russian authorities are claiming that a Ukrainian drone caused the crash in order to shift the blame onto Ukraine. 

Kovalenko points out that the visible damage, which has been documented, clearly indicates a Russian missile, not a drone - because a drone collision would have immediately brought down the plane.

Plane crash in Kazakhstan

A passenger plane crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on the morning of December 25. The plane was traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia. 38 people died, 29 people were hospitalized, with 11 in serious condition. Among the victims, there were 15 Azerbaijani citizens, 9 Russians, and 2 Kyrgyz nationals. The citizenship of 3 other people is still being verified.

Azerbaijan's General Prosecutor's Office has launched a criminal investigation into the crash, focusing on possible violations of air safety and operational rules. An investigative team has been sent to Kazakhstan to look into the incident.