Azerbaijan Airlines plane was likely shot down by Russia: report

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, carrying 68 passengers, tragically crashed on Wednesday near Aktau, Kazakhstan, during an emergency landing attempt.

Preliminary investigations reveal that a Russian surface-to-air missile may have been responsible for the disaster, Azerbaijani government sources confirmed to Euronews.

The incident unfolded as the Embraer 190 aircraft was caught in the crossfire of drone activity near Grozny, Chechnya. According to officials, the missile, reportedly fired from a Pantsir-S air defense system, exploded near the plane mid-flight, causing shrapnel damage to the fuselage, passengers, and crew.

Sources further allege that despite the pilots’ pleas, Russian authorities denied the damaged plane permission to land at any of their airports. Instead, the crew was instructed to navigate across the Caspian Sea toward Kazakhstan.

The aircraft’s GPS systems were reportedly jammed throughout its route over the sea, compounding the crisis.

Drone activity linked to missile launch

At the time of the crash, Russian air defenses were reportedly engaging Ukrainian drones over Grozny. Khamzat Kadyrov, head of the Security Council of the Chechen Republic, confirmed the drone activity but claimed there were no casualties or damage within Grozny itself.

Historical parallels

The incident draws comparisons to the 2014 MH17 tragedy, where a commercial airliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all on board. If confirmed, this would mark the second such incident involving Russian forces in recent memory..

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has launched a criminal investigation into the crash, aiming to uncover the sequence of events leading to the missile strike, the decision to deny the emergency landing, and the subsequent fatal flight across the Caspian Sea.