Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was downed by a missile on 25 December fired from a Pantsir-S1 air defence system which was brought from Syria to Russia, according to reliable sources familiar with the investigation quoted exclusively by Azerbaijan-based international news channel AnewZ and reported for the first time in Europe by Euronews. Electronic warfare systems were deployed against the Azerbaijani aircraft on 25 December as it was on its approach to land in Grozny, leading to severe malfunctions in its control systems before its crash near Aktau airport in Kazakhstan, AnewZ reported based on its sources.
According to the AnewZ, Russian investigators have identified both the individual who launched the missile and the officer in charge who gave the order. Diplomatic sources in Azerbaijan told AnewZ that Baku refuses to allow the case to be “hushed up” and remains resolute in its demand for accountability by Russia. This includes taking the matter to international courts if Moscow refuses to assume responsibility for the tragedy in which 38 passengers died and 29 survived with injuries.
The day after the crash, Azerbaijani government sources said that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau. According to the sources, the missile was fired at Flight 8432 during drone air activity above Grozny, and the shrapnel hit the passengers and cabin crew as it exploded next to the aircraft mid-flight.
Government sources told Euronews that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan. According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.
Three days after the crash, in an address to the nation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, "We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. (...) We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done.” At that time, on 29 December, Aliyev said Baku made three demands to Russia in connection with the crash. “First, the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt. Third, punish the guilty, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,” Aliyev outlined.
Aliyev noted that the first demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to him on 28 December. Putin called the crash a “tragic incident," though he stopped short of acknowledging Moscow’s responsibility.
On the same day, Kazakhstan's government stated that it decided to send the aircraft’s flight recorders to Brazil to aid in the full and unequivocal disclosure of facts around the tragedy — a move indicating that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were aligned in their quest for a transparent investigation.
