新闻链接：https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/azerbaijan-airlines-flight-was-downed-by-russian-air-defence-system-four-sources-2024-12-26/
BAKU, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed down on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian drone strikes.
The Embraer (EMBR3.SA), opens new tab passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern Chechnya region, before veering off hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.
It crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian after what Russia’s aviation watchdog earlier said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
Officials did not explain why it had crossed the sea. The nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path, Makhachkala, was closed on Wednesday morning.
One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. Its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny, the source said.
“No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft,” the source said.
Three other sources confirmed that the Azeri investigation had come to the same preliminary conclusion. Russia’s Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Qanat Bozymbaev said he could neither confirm nor deny the thesis that Russian air defences downed the plane.
Asked about the possibility that Russian air defences shot at the plane, the Kazakh transport prosecutor for the region where the plan came down said the investigation had not come to a firm conclusion yet.
The Kremlin, asked before the Reuters report about the idea that the aircraft had been shot at by Russian air defences, said that an investigation was ongoing and that it would be improper to comment until the inquiry came to its own conclusions.
“It is wrong to build hypotheses before the conclusions of the investigation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Footage shot by passengers on the plane before it crashed down showed oxygen masks down and people wearing life vests. Later footage, showed bloodied and bruised passengers climbing out of the plane. There were 29 survivors.
Pictures of the plane wreckage showed what appeared to be some sort of shrapnel damage to the tail section of the plane.
Aviation security firm Osprey Flight Solutions said in an alert to airlines on Wednesday that footage of the wreckage and the circumstances around the air space in southwest Russia indicated the possibility that the airliner was hit by some form of anti-aircraft fire.
Ukrainian military drones have repeatedly targeted Russia’s southern regions in recent months, triggering Russian air defences. Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry had reported the downing of 59 Ukrainian drones over several regions.
Some were reportedly shot down in closed air space over regions bordering Ukraine, including the Sea of Azov. Flight operations were reportedly temporarily suspended at Russia’s Kazan Airport due to the activity.
In addition, publicly available ADS-B flight tracking data shows that the Azerbaijani aircraft experienced GPS jamming
, opens new tab throughout its flight over southwest Russia, the alert said.
Russia uses advanced electronic jamming equipment to confuse Ukrainian drone location and communication systems and a large number of air defence systems have been deployed to shoot down the drones.
The U.S. National Security Council referred queries to Azerbaijani and Kazakhstani officials as the investigation continues.
12.25，一架从巴库飞往格罗兹尼的阿塞拜疆航班于哈萨克斯坦Aktau坠毁，其中38人遇难，29人生还，当天俄罗斯空管部门称坠机原因是遭遇鸟群冲撞。阿塞拜疆消息人士称初步调查显示该航班被铠甲-S防空系统击中，且在格罗兹尼该航班通讯系统被电子战系统干扰。该人士称无人指责俄罗斯故意击落航班，巴库方面只是希望俄罗斯承认这一事实。关于这一指控，佩斯科夫称在调查结果披露之前任何假设毫无意义。
此外，飞机残骸照片显示机尾有弹片痕迹。
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