BAKU – An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25 was brought down by a Russian air defence system, according to four sources in Azerbaijan familiar with the ongoing investigation.
The Embraer passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people after veering off its planned route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region. The deviation led the plane to the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Russian aviation authorities initially suggested that the emergency might have been caused by a bird strike.
The crash occurred in a region where Moscow has recently deployed air defence systems to counter Ukrainian drone strikes. The incident follows reports of drone strikes targeting Russia’s Chechnya region earlier in December. Notably, the nearest Russian airport along the flight path had been closed on the morning of December 25.
The exact reasons for the plane’s unexpected route change remain unclear. Russian, Azerbaijani, and Kazakhstani officials have launched investigations into the crash to determine the circumstances leading to the tragedy.