The Azerbaijani channel AnewZ stated in its special report based on Azerbaijani government sources that the preliminary results of the investigation indicate that the Baku-Grozny passenger plane was shot down by the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system as it approached the city of Grozny, trying to shoot down Ukrainian drones.
According to Euronews news channel, Azerbaijani government sources confirmed that the plane crashed due to a Russian-made surface-to-air missile. Government sources also reported that the damaged plane was not allowed to land at any airport in Russia, despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and was ordered to fly over the Caspian Sea to Aktau, Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the US-based Wall Street Journal newspaper claimed that the plane may have been shot down by Russian air defenses, based on holes in its tail section. According to the report, Osprey Flight Solutions, an independent aviation security firm based in the UK, said that the plane was “likely shot down by Russian air defenses.” The company’s intelligence officer, Matt Borie, said, “Conditions suggest that the plane was likely hit by anti-aircraft fire, given the video of the wreckage and the security situation in the airspace in southwestern Russia.”
“It would be wrong to put forward any hypotheses before the results of the investigation. Of course, we will not do this. No one should. We need to wait until the investigation is completed,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov in response to the allegations.
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) had suggested that the plane may have hit a flock of birds.