Russia and Kazakhstan have tried to calm speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, following claims it had been shot down by Russian air defence systems.
On Thursday, Moscow urged calm as its foreign minister said it would be wrong to come to conclusions before an investigation into the crash was complete.
The flight had been set to travel to Grozny, the capital of Russia‘s Chechnya on Wednesday, but instead diverted and crash-landed a few kilometres short of Aktau airport in Kazakhstan.
Unverified video footage of the crash showed the aircraft descending and hitting the ground where it burst into flames, killing 38 of the 67 people onboard.
Russia’s aviation watchdog said a preliminary investigation indicated the pilot decided to change landing site after “a collision with birds”. But Reuters news agency noted the plane had diverted from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks.
On Wednesday Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation, took to X to claim the plane was “shot down by a Russian air defence system,” claiming to have seen footage from inside the plane showing punctured life vests. Sources also made the same claim to Reuters.
He said: “However, admitting this is inconvenient for everyone, so efforts will be made to cover it up, even the holes in the remaining parts of the aircraft.”
An analyst at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory also raised doubts over a bird strike, adding: “You can lose control of the plane, but you don’t fly wildly off course as a consequence.”
Both Moscow and Kazakhstan have sought to dampen speculation of Moscow’s involvement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying on Thursday an investigation into the cause of the crash is underway and that it would be wrong to make “hypotheses” before any conclusions are drawn.
Kazakhstan’s senate chairman also added that the cause of the crash was unknown and said: “None of these countries – neither Azerbaijan, Russia nor Kazakhstan – is interested in hiding information. All information will be made available to the public.”
Azeri president Ilham Aliyev also said it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, and said bad weather in Grozny had forced the flight to divert.
Mr Aliyev said: “The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing.”
Commercial aviation-tracking websites monitored the flight as it flew north on its scheduled route along the west coast before it disappeared. It then reappeared on the east coast, where it circled near Aktau airport before crashing into the beach.
Kazakh officials said those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Five of the 67 were crew.
