The spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitri Peskov, asked to wait for the results of the investigation into the causes of the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane near Aktau. This is how he commented on the version expressed by the United States that the ship fell due to air defense.
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According to Peskov, the Kremlin saw these statements. “In this case, I would like to remind you of yesterday’s statement by Dmitry Yadrov, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, who said that Russia will provide full support to both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in the investigation of the circumstances and causes of the plane crash. “Russia has declared this provision and we are awaiting the results of the investigation,” the spokesperson said (cited by RIA Novosti).
He added that it would not be appropriate for the presidential administration to speak about the plane crash situation.
The day before, the strategic communications coordinator of the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said that the United States saw “primary indications” that a passenger plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed due to air defense. He did not specify what signs he was referring to.
Azerbaijan Airlines also stated that, according to preliminary data, the probable cause of the Embraer plane crash was “external physical and technical influence.” The airline announced the suspension of flights to 10 Russian cities, including Grozny and Makhachkala, citing “possible security risks.”
In addition to AZAL, the Kazakh airline Qazaq Air and the Emirati Flydubai announced the suspension of flights to some Russian cities.
Previously, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed that there was a “difficult situation” in the area of the Grozny airport, where the plane was due to land, due to a “terrorist attack by Ukrainian drones.” The plane’s commander himself made the decision to redirect the plane to Aktau, Yadrov noted.
Social media users drew attention to holes in the crashed plane’s fuselage, suggesting the plane could have been shot down. One of the surviving passengers told RT that during the third attempt to land the plane in Grozny, “something exploded, and I wouldn’t say it was inside the plane.”
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed on December 25. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan, a total of 67 people were on board, including 5 crew members. 38 people died.
Author:
Timur Batyrov
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
