Azerbaijan suspects Russian missile downed plane in Kazakhstan

Russian blogger and military expert Yuri Podoliaka said on Telegram that the holes were similar to what an “anti-aircraft missile system” could cause.

On condition of anonymity, a former BEA expert compared the incident to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine in 2014.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov called it “a mistake to formulate hypotheses before the conclusions of the investigation.” Kazakh Senate President Maulen Ashimbayev said it was “not possible” to determine the cause of the catastrophe at the moment.

Initially, Azerbaijan Airlines attributed the crash to a bird strike, but later withdrew the information. The Russian civil aviation agency (Rosaviatsia) also mentioned this version, but aeronautical expert Xavier Tytelman ruled out such a possibility, considering the damage to the fuselage.

Kazakh Transport Minister Marat Karabayev mentioned a “balloon explosion” on board the aircraft, without giving further details. An investigation was opened for “violation of air transport safety and operating rules”. According to a Kazakh regional prosecutor, two black boxes were found.

The Flightradar24 service, which allows you to monitor the movement of planes in real time, shows that the aircraft crossed the Caspian Sea, deviating from its normal route, before flying in circles over the area where it crashed.