A tragic plane crash in Kazakhstan this week has led Azerbaijan’s president to accuse Russia of unintentionally shooting down an Azerbaijani airliner, adding to the growing tensions around the Black Sea region and the Caucasus.
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was traveling from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s North Caucasus, when it diverted to the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday. The aircraft went down in a fiery crash three kilometers from the airport, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. Rescuers managed to pull 29 survivors from the wreckage, and many of them remain in hospital.
President Ilham Aliyev said that the jet was ‘unintentionally’ fired upon by Russian forces while it was in Russian airspace. He also claimed the plane’s systems were disabled by electronic jamming, suggesting it may have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone. Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized for what he described as a ‘tragic incident,’ though Moscow has not officially admitted that Russian air defenses caused the crash.
Authorities in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia are now conducting multiple investigations. Some officials have suggested possibilities like a bird strike, severe weather, or an onboard malfunction. However, international aviation experts and Azerbaijani officials say shrapnel damage visible in the tail section points to a surface-to-air missile strike while flight-tracking data indicates strong GPS interference consistent with Russian electronic warfare systems.
Azerbaijan has called for a broad investigation involving foreign experts, raising concerns about the impartiality of any inquiry led solely by Russian or post-Soviet regional authorities. Aliyev has demanded not only an apology and an admission of guilt, but also financial compensation for victims’ families and for the Azerbaijani state.
In a statement Saturday, the Kremlin reiterated Putin’s condolences to the people of Azerbaijan and noted that a team of Russian, Azerbaijani and Kazakh experts had started gathering evidence. It confirmed that air defence systems around Grozny’s airport were active Wednesday due to reports of Ukrainian drone activity in the area, but it did not provide details on whether the systems had shot at the passing airliner.
The crash has shaken travellers across Eurasia as civilian flights continue to face risks in regions where military radar and defensive weapons are on high alert. Embraer, the Brazilian manufacturer of the E190 aircraft, said it is willing to assist investigators but declined to comment on the question of whether the crash resulted from a Russian missile.
Authorities in Azerbaijan declared a day of mourning on Thursday. Flags across the country were lowered to half-mast, and people observed a moment of silence at noon for the 38 lives lost. Flowers and condolences were brought to Azerbaijani consulates worldwide, including in St. Petersburg, where local officials also paid their respects.
With separate inquiries underway, experts caution that it may take weeks, if not months, for an official conclusion about how the plane came down. For now, Aliyev’s statements and Putin’s rare apology have thrust the matter onto the world stage, and have deepened scrutiny over Russia’s use of sophisticated air defense and electronic warfare systems in a volatile conflict zone.