There are signs that indicate that Azerbaijan Airlines plane was shot down by Russian air defense, - Kirby
The United States believes that there are signs that the Russian air defense system was involved in the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan.
This was stated during a briefing by White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, Voice of America reports, Censor.NET informs.
"We've seen some early indications that certainly point to the possibility that this plane was shot down by Russian air defense systems," Kirby said.
The White House representative noted that an investigation into the plane crash involving Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is currently underway.
"We have offered our assistance to this investigation if they need it," Kirby added.
Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan
On 25 December, an Embraer plane en route from Baku to Grozny, Russia, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau.
38 people died as a result of the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. According to one version in the media, the plane could have been hit by air defence systems over the territory of the Russian Federation.
According to media reports, a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Aktau.
Defense Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov says that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was shot down by Russia's Pantsir-S1 air defense system.
Azerbaijan expects Russia to officially recognize the downing of the passenger plane, Reuters reports.
The spokesman for the Russian dictator Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the information about Russia's involvement in the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane in Kazakhstan.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people over the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight and said that the facts indicate that Russia is responsible for the tragedy.
