Egypt Daily News – Sources revealed that Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was shot down on December 25 by a missile fired from the Pantsir-S1 system, which was transported from Syria to Russia, killing 38 people and wounding 29 others.
Reports indicated that electronic warfare systems were used against the Azerbaijani plane as it was approaching to land at Grozny Airport. This caused major malfunctions in the plane’s control systems, leading to its crash near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan.
According to Anew Z sources, Russian investigators were able to identify the person who launched the missile, in addition to the officer responsible for issuing the order.
On the diplomatic level, sources in Azerbaijan told AnewZ that Baku rejects any attempts to “discreet” this incident, and confirms its determination to pursue Russia internationally if Moscow does not bear responsibility for the tragedy.
Reports indicate that the Azerbaijani government is preparing to take the case to international courts to ensure that those responsible for the accident that claimed dozens of lives and resulted in dozens of others being injured are held accountable.
Azerbaijan calls on Russia to apologize and punish officials
The next day after the Azerbaijani Airlines plane crashed in Aktau, government sources announced that a Russian ground to air missile shot the plane down. The sources pointed out that the missile was launched at a drone in the same area of the 8432 flight over Grozny, and its explosion resulted in injury of passengers and the plane crew from its shrapnel.
According to the sources, the plane was not allowed to land at any Russian airport, despite the pilots requesting an emergency landing. Instead, the plane was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan. The data showed that the GPS systems (GPS) were confused throughout the journey path over the sea probably due to Russian electronic warfare.
Three days after the incident, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated in a speech that the plane was “brought down by Russia”, adding: “We do not say that this was intentionally, but what happened happened.” Aliyev announced three demands that Baku submitted to Moscow, namely: providing an official apology to Azerbaijan, to recognize responsibility for the accident, punish those responsible for the accident and hold them criminal responsibility, in addition to paying compensation to the victims and the Azerbaijani state.
Aliyev indicated that the first requirement was achieved after the apology of Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 28, when he described the accident as “tragic”, but he did not recognize Moscow’s responsibility for shooting down the plane.
At the same time, the Kazakhstan government announced its decision to send the plane’s records to Brazil for analysis, with the aim of revealing all the facts related to the tragedy. It emphasized that this step comes within the framework of coordination with Azerbaijan to achieve transparent and integrated in the accident, which reflects the consensus between the two countries on seeking to reach the truth and achieve justice.
