The authoritative publication The Telegraph drew attention to the fact that Russia's shooting down of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan is similar to the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down by the Russians over Ukraine 10 years ago.
Points of attention
- The similarity of the situations with the shooting down of MH17 and AZAL-8243 aircraft indicates the tendency of Russian defense systems to use weapons against civil aviation.
- Experts believe that the identification of the aircraft may be erroneous.
- The international community must demand that Russia admit its guilt and take responsibility for all crimes.
Russia commits the same crimes
A French aviation expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Aktau crash on Christmas Day would be "reminiscent" of the MH17 tragedy, when Russian invaders shot down a passenger plane with a surface-to-air missile over Donbas, killing 298 people.
As has already become known, the Embraer 190 aircraft, which was flying from Baku to Grozny, deviated from the route for unknown reasons and crashed while landing in Aktau.
38 people died in this plane crash, 29 managed to survive.
Video from the scene shows the plane plummeting and exploding on impact with the ground. Other footage shows damage to the plane, including the fuselage separating from the wings and clear signs of shrapnel.
According to experts, the wreckage of the plane has "significant damage from shrapnel." It is quite likely that the cause of the downing of the plane could have been a surface-to-air missile fired by the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system over Grozny.
What is important to understand is that on the day of the crash, Russian air defense systems were actively used to protect against Ukrainian drones. Moreover, Russian airports refused the plane an emergency landing, after which it was directed to Aktau.
Parallel with the MH17 disaster
Journalists and Western experts point out that this is the second case in the last decade when a civilian aircraft was shot down by Russian-made missiles.
It is no secret that MH17 was mistakenly identified by pro-Russian forces as a Ukrainian military aircraft.
This side was hit by a surface-to-air missile. The shrapnel holes found on this aircraft are similar to those found on the Embraer 190.
According to expert Matthew Borey of Osprey Flight Solutions, both cases could have been the result of mistaken identity:
"MH17 was mistaken for a Ukrainian military aircraft, and AZAL-8243 was mistaken for a Ukrainian drone," he said.
