The passenger liner of Azerbaijan Airlines, which was on a flight from Baku to Grozny, was shot down in an area where several Russian military facilities with air defense systems are located.
According to the project "VChK-OGPU", this incident occurred over the Naursky district of Chechnya, where several military units are stationed. Based on the transcripts of conversations between the dispatcher and the crew, the pilot mistook a strong impact on the aircraft for a collision with a flock of birds. However, the damage suggests that a missile, likely launched from air defense systems, exploded near the aircraft.
Materials obtained by the channel indicate that the strike occurred approximately 18 kilometers north-northwest of the airport in Grozny, over the Naursky district at an altitude of 2,400 meters.
According to open sources, several military units, including those with air defense systems, are located in this area. Back in late 2011, a laudatory article about new weapons capable of controlling the airspace over the entire North Caucasus was published on the "Chechnya Today" website.
The article mentioned that a new air defense command system, Barnaul-T, had been introduced in the motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Ministry of Defense stationed in the Naursky district at that time.
It is known that following recent UAV attacks, several "Pantsir" systems were also deployed in Chechnya.
Airplane Crash in Kazakhstan
The passenger aircraft Embraer E190AR of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) with dozens of people on board crashed on December 25 in the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. Out of 67 people, 38 were killed.
It is reported that 29 individuals, including two children, are currently in hospitals. Eleven of them are in stable but serious condition, while the others are in moderate condition.
The possibility of the aircraft being shot down was discussed online after a video of the wreckage was published, which clearly showed bullet holes. This version was also voiced by Andrey Kovalenko, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council:
"Russia was supposed to close the airspace over Grozny but failed to do so. The plane sustained damage from the Russians and was sent to Kazakhstan instead of being urgently landed in Grozny to save lives," Kovalenko stated.