Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan suspend flights to Russia after the plane crash

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The national airlines of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have suspended some flights to Russia after evidence suggests that an Azerbaijani airliner was shot down by Russian air defense systems.

Kazakh airline Qazaq Air said on Friday it had suspended its Astana-Ekaterinburg route, according to Kazinform news agencywhile Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended flights to seven cities in southern Russia.

The measures were taken after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to the Russian regional capital Grozny diverted into the Caspian Sea and crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. those who were on board.

Video of the crashed plane’s fuselage showed multiple signs of fire from the anti-aircraft system. There is also evidence that Russia was operating a GPS system near Grozny at the time, apparently to protect against Ukrainian drone attacks.

Azerbaijan’s transport minister, Rashad Nabiyev, said on Friday that evidence gathered by Azerbaijani investigators points to “interference with the aircraft” outside the plane.

“The injured passengers and surviving flight attendants said they heard the explosion while in Grozny,” Nabiyev said, adding that there was video evidence of the flight attendant and the passenger suffering injuries to their arms and legs.

One early theory pointed to a plane crash. But Nabiyev said witness testimony suggests otherwise.

“Injured Russian citizens also reported that they heard three explosions in Grozny. According to them, the sounds of explosions were heard outside, after which something hit the plane,” the minister you told reporters.

He said that the Azerbaijani Commission at the scene examined the body of the plane, and also pointed to external influence. “Damage to the barrel and traces of shrapnel were reported in the aircraft.”

Qazaq Air said it was suspending flights to Ekaterinburg until January 27 pending an “ongoing risk assessment” of flights to Russia. Azerbaijan Airlines said it has suspended flights to Grozny and other cities in southern Russia until an investigation into the crash is completed.

IsraelA spokesman for the flag carrier, El Al, on Thursday also announced it was suspending flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow pending a safety review.

Russia had insisted that the plane could not land in Grozny because of heavy fog and that the plane had hit a flock of birds. Authorities in the neighboring Russian region of North Ossetia announced an attack by Ukrainian drones, one of which was shot down, killing a woman on the ground. But the Kommersant newspaper reported that there was no “heavy fog” forecast for Grozny at the time.

The head of Russia’s Rosaviatsia aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, on Thursday said that the situation near Grozny was “very difficult” amid attacks from Ukrainian war drones. The Kremlin declined to comment on the cause of the accident.

The incident has drawn comparisons to Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which was shot down in Ukraine in 2014. complete The crash, which killed all 298 people on board, was the result of an anti-aircraft missile fired by Russian-controlled fighters in eastern Ukraine.

A joint investigation is being conducted by Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Russian officials. The type of aircraft involved – the Embraer-190 regional jet – was considered one of the safest domestic aircraft in the world.

Senior US and Ukrainian officials have also pointed to Russia’s anti-aircraft system. Andriy Kovalenko, an official of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, wrote in the Telegraph on Thursday that Russia would have closed the airspace over Grozny.

“The plane was destroyed by the Russians and sent to Kazakhstan, instead of making an emergency stop in Grozny and saving lives,” he wrote.

Rasim Musabekov, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, called on Russia to apologize.

“The plane was shot down in Russian territory, in the air over Grozny, and this cannot be denied,” Musabekov told the Turan news agency. “This is how advanced relations work. If the air defense systems are active, the airport should be closed, and warnings should be issued to prevent flights to the area.”

The plane crash “will clearly cause problems between Baku and Moscow”, said Richard Giragosian, director of the Center for Regional Studies, a Yerevan-based think tank.

He noted that this event was against the background of the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which led to Baku to take over Nagorno-Karabakh last year. The seizure undermined the strength of Russian peacekeeping troops deployed there, and marked a worsening shift in Russian influence in the South Caucasus.

“Azerbaijan’s rightful anger and anger towards Russia will make it overconfident and emboldened to pressure Moscow even more,” Giragosian added. “The obvious loser in the South Caucasus will be Russia’s power and prestige.”

Cartographer by Steven Bernard