Ukraine claims that plane crashed in Kazakhstan was shot down by Russia: was it hit by a missile?

He Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 planewhich failed to complete its flight from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia and crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, was shot down by a Russian air defense system, the head of the National Security and Defense Council’s Counter-Disinformation Center said. from Ukraine, Andri Kovalenko.

“The explosion of an air defense missile damaged the plane and disabled its systems”Kovalenko wrote on Telegram.

The holes in the fuselage of the plane that appeared during the flight and that can be seen in the images of the passengers they couldn’t have been caused by birdsas initially reported by Russian sources, he noted.

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“Russia had to close the airspace over Grozny, but it didn’t,” Kovalenko stressed, referring to the risks created by the drone attack that was occurring in Grozny at the same time.

The Russian city was attacked by drones on Wednesday morning, confirmed the secretary of the Chechnya Security Council and nephew of the region’s head, Jamzat Kadirov.

“Everything that flew was shot down,” he stated Wednesday on Instagram.

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“The plane was damaged by the Russians and sent to Kazakhstan, instead of making an emergency landing in Grozny and saving lives,” Kovalenko stressed.

Only the professionalism of the plane’s pilots prevented Russia from “turning this story into a Russian provocation against Ukraine,” he said, warning that Russia will do everything possible to hide its own responsibility for the plane crash and the deaths.

What does Russia say?

On Wednesday morning, 38 of the 67 people who were on board the plane They died in the accident that occurred near the city of Aktau (Kazakhstan), after failing to land in the Russian city of Grozny (Chechnya).

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency previously stated that the plane “hit birds,” after which its captain decided to land at an alternative airfield in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

Several pro-war Russian military bloggers, including Fighterbomber, have noted that the plane was possibly shot down by air defenses.

NATO calls for “thorough” investigation

NATO called for a “thorough” investigation into the accident suffered by the plane.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243. “We wish those injured in the accident a speedy recovery and call for a thorough investigation to be carried out,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said in a message on social media.

At a press conference, the spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office AzerbaijanKanan Zeinalov, assured that specialists are working together with Kazakhstan to clarify the causes of the tragedy, to whom it was announced today that Brazilian experts would join them.