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A former top US official who led both the CIA and Pentagon has suggested that Russian air defenses were likely responsible for the recent crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in Kazakhstan, which killed 38 people.
Some shit you should know before you read: Earlier this week, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, an Embraer 190 aircraft, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, while en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. The incident occurred on Wednesday and resulted in the deaths of 38 people, with 33 others surviving but sustaining injuries. After diverting from its intended course, the plane attempted to make an emergency landing.
What’s going on now: During an appearance on CNN, former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta said he believed that Russian air defense systems were responsible for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight near Kazakhstan. Panetta pointed to preliminary evidence and expert analysis to support his view. He said, “When you look at all the preliminary evidence here, I don’t think there’s any question, but that the Russians use some kind of air defense system that brought down that airliner. We’ll wait for a formal investigation, but I think it’s pretty clear that the Russians, here, were responsible for what happened to that airliner.”
Panetta’s remarks came just before Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the “tragic” Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash but stopped short of accepting responsibility for the incident. According to a Kremlin statement, Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
Digging Deeper: Notably, Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, initially suggested the crash was caused by a bird strike, with its head, Dmitry Yadrov, later adding that Ukrainian drones were conducting attacks near Grozny at the time of the incident, creating a dangerous environment for civilian aircraft operating in the area.
More to come.
