Kazakhstan plane crash: Russian missile strike suspected
According to Nastojaszczeje Wriemia television, there are claims that the Russian air defence system might have struck the Embraer-190 aircraft that crashed in Kazakhstan.
The Embraer-190 passenger plane, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan. As reported by the opposition station Nastojaszczeje Wriemia, the aircraft might have been targeted by the Russian air defence system, which was countering Ukrainian drone attacks on Grozny.
In the crash near the city of Aktau, 38 of the 67 people on board lost their lives. Initially, the accident was attributed to a collision with a flock of birds, which was believed to have caused a failure in the control system. The plane was initially supposed to be redirected to Makhachkala but was ultimately sent to Aktau.
Was the plane shot down by Russia?
In Nastojaszczeje Wriemia footage, the rear of the plane appears riddled with holes, resembling gunfire marks. War analyst Jan Matwiejew stated that "the shrapnel marks on the side of the plane do not suggest a direct hit by a Pantsir-S1; they are too small. It is more probable that such a missile detonated at some distance from the aircraft, and (that the plane) was damaged by shrapnel, resulting in a loss of control."
Meanwhile, Andrij Kowalenko from the Ukrainian Security Council explicitly claimed that the plane was "shot down" by the Russians.
Both Nastojaszczeje Wriemia and the Baza channel on Telegram have been publishing footage from inside the plane, showing injured passengers. Matwiejew added that "this could be the aftermath of shrapnel penetrating the plane." Surviving passengers reported hearing two explosions "either in the rear of the plane or possibly behind it."
"It is also peculiar that the crew was refused landing in both Grozny (allegedly due to fog) and Makhachkala, and was redirected to Aktau (...)" - evaluated the expert cited by the station. It cannot yet be confirmed with certainty that the plane was shelled, although "the theory of a loss of control due to a bird strike seems unlikely," he emphasised.
The Kazakh section of Radio Free Europe reported that blogger Azamat Sarsenbayev, who filmed the crash site with a drone, was detained. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail for not complying with police orders. Sarsenbayev claims he was acting at the request of the BBC and Reuters.
