A Kremlin spokesman warned against “putting forward hypotheses” about the causes of the passenger plane crash in Kazakhstan before the investigation is completed. There are voices in the media that Moscow is responsible for the tragedy.
Embraer 190 passenger plane, flying from Baku Azerbaijan to the capital of Chechnya, Grozny, crashed on Wednesday morning near the city of Aktau on the Kazakh coast of the Caspian Sea. 38 of the 67 people on board the plane died in the disaster.
On Wednesday evening, the preliminary version of events was reported that due to thick fog over Grozny, the plane was to be redirected to an alternate airport in the capital of Russian Dagestan, Makhachkala, but the machine – as the Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsya reported at the time – most likely collided with a flock of birds, which caused there was a failure of the control system.
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In turn, the Euronews website reported on Thursday, citing sources in the Azerbaijani government, that the plane could have been shot at by a Russian anti-aircraft defense system.
The site of the crash of a passenger plane near the city of Aktau in KazakhstanIssa Tazhenbayev / Anadolu / Getty Images
Moscow's reaction
– It would be a mistake to put forward any hypotheses before the results of the investigation, a Kremlin spokesman said on Thursday Dmitry Peskov. – Of course we won't do it and no one should do it. We have to wait until the investigation is completed, he repeated.
Chief prosecutor Kazakhstan he later said that the investigation had not yet reached any conclusions.
The site of the crash of a passenger plane near the city of Aktau in KazakhstanPAP/EPA
Baku “expects an apology”
As reported by the BBC, there are voices in the Azerbaijani media that Azerbaijan expects that Russia will admit to shooting down the plane.
Several TV channels, which are strictly controlled by the Azerbaijani government, broadcast on Thursday a series of interviews with experts who openly said that Russia was most likely responsible for the disaster.
According to the AnewZ channel, a preliminary investigation showed that the plane was hit by shrapnel from a surface-to-air missile fired from the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system.
The pro-government website Caliber, citing government sources, reported that Baku expects an apology from Russia.
The BBC asked Azerbaijan's chief prosecutor about these reports. He replied that each version of events was being investigated.
Plane crash in Kazakhstan. Some of the passengers survivedArtur Molęda/Fakty TVN
BBC: they are waiting for Moscow's first step
“The Azerbaijani government is trying not to irritate Russian President Vladimir Putin, so it will be very difficult for it to blame Russia directly (for the disaster – ed.), unless it itself admits to shooting down the plane,” the BBC comments.
As the station adds, “it appears that the investigative commission composed of officials from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan probably already has evidence of this, but they are waiting for Russia to announce it first.”
Main photo source: Issa Tazhenbayev / Anadolu / Getty Images