The Kremlin on Friday declined to comment on an Azerbaijani plane which crashed until a probe had been completed, after reports it was shot at by a Russian air defense missile.
“An investigation is underway, and until the conclusions of the investigation, we do not consider we have the right to make any comments and we will not do so,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
An Azerbaijani Airlines flight from Baku to Russia’s Grozny crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
Four Azerbaijani sources told Reuters on Thursday the plane had been struck by Russian air defenses.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency carried a similar report citing the preliminary results of the investigation, saying “the plane was attacked by a Pantsir missile system” as it approached Grozny.
Ukrainian drone strikes have been registered in Chechnya in recent weeks, and there was reported drone activity in nearby Ingushetia and North Ossetia before the crash.
“The aircraft’s communication system was completely paralyzed due to the use of Russian electronic warfare systems, which resulted in the plane disappearing from radars while in Russian airspace,” Anadolu reported.
The New York Times reported that “two Azerbaijanis briefed on a government inquiry said that Azerbaijani officials now believe that a Russian Pantsir-S defense system damaged the plane.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that early indications suggest a Russian anti-aircraft system struck the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.
The plane was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members.
