Bombshell claim: A Russian missile shot down the Azerbaijani plane.

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The passenger plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), flying from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. 38 people lost their lives in the tragedy.

"THE PLANE WAS SHOT DOWN BY A RUSSIAN MISSILE" CLAIM

As speculations regarding the incident continue to arise, a striking claim has come to the fore. It was alleged that the AZAL plane was attacked by the Russian "Pantsir-S" air defense system. Azerbaijani government sources speaking to Euronews confirmed that a Russian missile fired from the ground caused the accident. According to the sources, the missile was fired at the flight number 8432 during a drone air activity over Grozny, and shrapnel exploding next to the plane during the flight hit the passengers and cabin crew.

"THE PLANE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO LAND"

According to the claims of government sources, despite the pilots' emergency landing requests, the damaged plane was not allowed to land at any Russian airport. Towers in the region ordered the plane to fly over the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan. According to data, the plane's GPS navigation systems were stuck along the flight path over the sea.

"AN OBJECT HIT AFTER THE EXPLOSION"

Euronews shared striking information regarding what allegedly happened before the accident. According to this, as the plane approached Grozny, passengers heard an explosion sound. Then, an object resembling a piece of shrapnel hit the plane, damaging the fuselage. All of this was recounted by passengers who survived the accident.

UKRAINE'S CLAIM IS THE SAME

On the other hand, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the Center for Combating Disinformation of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, made a written statement on his Telegram account regarding the crash of the Embraer 190 plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines while flying from Baku to Grozny today.

Kovalenko, who claimed that the plane was shot down by a Russian air defense system, stated: "This morning, the Embraer 190 plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, was shot down by the Russian air defense system. Russia should have closed the airspace over Grozny, but it did not. The plane was damaged by the Russians and instead of making an emergency landing in Grozny to save lives, it was sent to Kazakhstan."

PLANE CRASH IN KAZAKHSTAN

The Embraer 190 plane belonging to AZAL, operating the Baku-Grozni flight, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. AZAL announced that there were 67 people on board, including 5 crew members and 62 passengers. The Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office reported that, according to initial determinations, 32 people survived the accident and were taken for treatment. A one-day national mourning (December 26) was declared in Azerbaijan for those who lost their lives in the plane crash.