Russia seeks to play down speculation over Azerbaijan Airlines crash: Must await investigation results

An Embraer EMBR3.SA passenger jet crashed on Wednesday, while the plane was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia.

By: Express Web Desk

December 26, 2024 08:04 PM IST

2 min read

The plane, which was flying from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in Chechnya, came down in a field near Aktau in Kazakhstan after veering hundreds of miles off its planned route. (AP)

Russia and Kazakhstan have called for caution in speculating about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day, urging the public to await the results of an official investigation.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the investigation was ongoing and warned against speculation before it had concluded.

“It would be wrong to put forward any hypotheses before the investigation’s conclusions. We, of course, will not do this, and no-one should do this. We need to wait until the investigation is completed,” Peskov said.

Earlier, Kazakhstan’s Senate Chair, Ashimbayev Maulen, said that the cause of the crash was still unknown, noting that Azerbaijan, Russia, and Kazakhstan all had a vested interest in transparency.

“None of these countries – neither Azerbaijan, Russia nor Kazakhstan – is interested in hiding information. All information will be made available to the public,” said Maulen as quoted by The Guardian.

An Embraer EMBR3.SA passenger jet crashed on Wednesday, while the plane was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia. The aircraft veered off its planned route and crashed in a field near Aktau in Kazakhstan. Twenty-nine people survived.

A video of the crash showed the plane plummeting from the sky and bursting into flames, with thick, black smoke rising from the wreckage.

Story continues below this ad

The comments by Kremlin and Kazakhstan were followed claims from Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation, who posted on X that the plane was shot down by a Russian air defence system. Kovalenko cited footage from inside the plane showing “punctured life vests.”

Meanwhile, some Russian media have speculated that the plane may have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone and shot down by Russia’s air defences.

From the homepage