Russian weapons fire may have led to Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Kazakhstan, say US officials

The United States authorities on Friday said that Russian air defence systems may have led to the Azerbaijan Airlines crash near Kazakhstan’s Aktau city, AP reported.

This came hours after Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said that the passenger aircraft was subjected to “external interference” and damaged inside and outside as it tried to land in Russia’s Chechnya region, BBC reported.

Later on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin extended an apology to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for the “tragic incident” in Russian airspace and said that Russian air defence systems had been activated in response to Ukrainian drones, Reuters reported.

“At that time, [the towns of] Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks," the Kremlin said in a statement.

At least 38 persons died after the passenger aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed on Wednesday. The plane was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members. All 29 survivors were injured.

It was travelling from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny but had been rerouted midway.

On Friday, White House Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the United States had “seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defence systems”, AP reported.

Kirby, however, refused...

Read more