38 passengers were killed on Wednesday after Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed as it attempted to make an emergency landing near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau on Wednesday.
According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.
The missile was fired from a Pantsir-S air defence system, Baku-based international outlet AnewZ reported, citing Azerbaijani government sources.
According to Russian sources, at the time the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was passing over the territory of Chechnya, Russian air defence forces were actively attempting to shoot down Ukrainian UAVs.
If this preliminary data is confirmed, this would be the second time in a decade that Russian forces have destroyed a commercial aircraft after the MH17 crash in Ukraine.
Further investigation into Wednesday's crash is expected to unveil the circumstances surrounding the missile's firing, the non-authorisation for landing at a nearby airport in Russia, and the instruction to cross the sea with a damaged plane. »