The crash of an Azerbaijani passenger plane in December was caused by a strike from a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. Azerbaijan possesses a fragment of the missile as evidence.

Source: Reuters, citing a source within the Azerbaijani government, as reported by European Pravda

Details: On 25 December, an Embraer aircraft belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, resulting in the death of 38 people.

Following the incident, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the plane had been shot down from the ground. He emphasised that Russia should acknowledge responsibility, apologise to Azerbaijan – a nation considered friendly to Russia – and communicate this to the public.

On 4 February, a government source confirmed that the plane was downed by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system.

"Azerbaijan possesses a fragment of a Pantsir-S missile that was extracted from the plane and identified through international expertise," the source said.

Background:

• Rashad Nabiyev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Digital Development and Transport, remarked that eyewitness testimony and damage to the plane’s fuselage point to external interference. He noted that the investigation will determine the exact type of weapon involved.
• Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Russia may have attempted to cover up evidence of the plane's destruction and called for a fair investigation into the crash.

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