ACCRA, Dec 28 (Futball Surgery)- Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed at Kazakhstani southwestern town of Aktau that left 38 of 67 people on board dead on Christmas Day.
Russia has partly been blamed for the horrific incident where some plausible explanations point to a Russian anti-aircraft system downing the Azerbaijan plane. It is understood that Russia had used air defense system in Crozny territory in their war against Ukrainian making high unsafe for airspace operations. To the extent that Russia closed their first airspace in Makhachkala.
The BBC has pointed out that Moscow faces some key questions to answer. They said why Russia did not close its airspace (in Crozny) if there was military activity, and why it did not let the plane land as soon as possible – instead of directing it towards Aktau for landing.
Along these lines, Russia has been pushed to accept the blame for the plane crash and apologise- something victim country Azerbaijan highly expected Russia to do. But Russia sees these claims as hypothesis but not the true cause of tragic incident and had warned emerging hypothesis to stop until investigation led by Azerbaijan into the cause is completed.
“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,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised for a “tragic incident” in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed on Christmas Day, but failed to admit Russia was responsible.
“Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” The Kremlin said in an official statement.
Russia is currently under three-fold divided attention on the international landscape. The country is into war with Ukraine where they are spotted to have failed to provide military assistance to falling ally North Korean troops in battlefield. Russia is also in recovery process of its two sank tanks from storm that have caused heavy oil spillage in the Black Sea. Russia has warned of severe environmental damage from a huge oil spill, according to The Guardian.
“The situation is truly critical,” said the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, as quoted by Russian press agencies.
“It is unfortunately impossible to calculate for the moment the extent of the environmental damage, but specialists are working regularly on it,” he said.
Russia is also involved in the Azerbaijan commercial plane crash and somehow or truly been imposed to accept the blame. But Azerbaijani government has not blamed Russia for the plane crash cause.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said he had expressed condolences to President Aliyev and called on Russia for a clearer explanation of the crash.
“The key priority now is a thorough investigation to provide answers to all questions about what really happened,” he said. “Russia must provide clear explanations and stop spreading disinformation.”
What might have caused the plane crash
On Friday, the White House spokesperson John Kirby said the US had seen “early indications” that Russia might have been responsible for the crash.
There has been speculation that the commercial airliner’s GPS systems may have been affected by electronic jamming and the plane may have been damaged by air defence missiles fired at Ukrainian drones. The head of Russia’s civil aviation agency said the situation in Chechnya was “very complicated” because of Ukrainian drone strikes on the region.
The Kremlin said: “At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks.”
The statement stopped short of admitting Russia was responsible for downing the plane.
The plane, which was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny, in Chechnya, was hundreds of miles off its scheduled route on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. It is not clear why the plane changed course but Russian news agencies initially blamed fog. It crash-landed in Kazakhstan.
Azerbaijan has not blamed Russia but the former Soviet republic’s transport minister claimed on Friday the plane was subjected to “external interference” and that it was damaged before it crashed. “All [the survivors] without exception stated they heard three blast sounds when the aircraft was above Grozny,” said Rashad Nabiyev.
Kirby said the US had offered assistance to investigators; Russia and Azerbaijan are investigating the crash.
The survivors of the crash are being treated in a nearby hospital. One passenger, Subhonkul Rakhimov, told the BBC: “I saw the fuselage shell was slightly damaged and then I got scared. I thought the plane would fall apart. I was very surprised that I was alive.”
Another survivor, Vafa Shabanova, told the broadcaster that about 20 or 30 minutes after takeoff she felt two explosions: “The plane was supposed to land but it didn’t. Something exploded inside twice … we panicked.”
After the crash, Aliyev announced a day of mourning in Azerbaijan. “It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he wrote on social media.
