Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has stated that the AZAL civilian aircraft that crashed on Christmas suffered external damage while in Russian airspace near Grozny, news agency Trend reports.
On 25 December, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Flight JS-8432, an Embraer aircraft traveling from Baku to Grozny, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, approximately three kilometers from Aktau airport. Of the 67 people onboard, including 62 passengers and five crew members, 38 died, and 29 survived. Initial assessments suggest the plane was downed by a Russian surface-to-air missile near Grozny, although Russian news agencies initially attributed the crash to a bird strike.
In an interview with Azerbaijani television, Aliyev said:
“Unfortunately, during the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia but delusional versions,” Aliyev said, expressing confidence that the plane was likely not targeted intentionally.”
According to Trend, Aliyev explained that while final conclusions await black box analysis, initial findings show substantial evidence of external interference.
“The facts indicate that an Azerbaijani civilian aircraft sustained external damage in Russian territory, near Grozny, and essentially lost control. We also know our aircraft was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare systems. This was the first damage inflicted on the aircraft,” Aliyev said.
The President added that the tail section of the plane was severely damaged by fire opened from the ground.
The Report news agency reports that Aliyev also revealed that Russia’s ‘Carpet’ operation, which requires immediate landing or evacuation of all non-military and non-rescue aircraft from the declared area, was announced only after the AZAL aircraft had already sustained damage.
Following the incident, Aliyev ordered indefinite suspension of flights to seven Russian cities.
“Additionally, we suspended flights of Russian airlines from three Russian cities to Azerbaijan. In total, our air connections are now suspended with ten cities,” he stated.
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