Azerbaijani official suggests airliner was hit by a weapon before crash that killed 38
Russian air defence systems may have brought down an Azerbaijan Airlines plane this week, a U.S. official said Friday after an Azerbaijani minister also suggested the plane was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor testimony.
Friday’s assessments by Rashan Nabiyev and White House national security spokesperson John Kirby echoed those made by outside aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.
These statements raised pressure on Russia. Officials in Moscow have said a drone attack was underway in the region that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was destined for but have not addressed statements from aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defences responding to a Ukrainian attack.
Kirby told reporters on Friday that the U.S. “have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defence systems,” but refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation.
Pressed on whether the U.S. has intelligence that helped lead to that conclusion, or was simply relying on informed speculation from experts based on visual assessments of the crash, Kirby characterized the short answer as “yes” but said he’d “leave it at that,” without providing further details.
As Azerbaijan mourns 38 people killed aboard a flight that crashed in Kazakhstan, experts are pointing to signs they say suggest a missile, potentially one from Russia, was responsible.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia was at fault for the crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.
“We can see how the clear visual evidence at the crash site points to Russia’s responsibility for the tragedy,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on Wednesday when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land there.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that “preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact,” as does witness testimony.
“The type of weapon used in the impact from outside will be determined during the probe,” he said.
Survivors heard loud noises as aircraft circled
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.
Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said that after one loud noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. She went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.
Asadov said that the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. Shortly afterwards, he sustained a sudden injury like a “deep wound. The arm was lacerated as if someone hit me in the arm with an axe,” he said. He denied Kazakh officials’ claim that an oxygen canister had exploded inside the plane.
Two other survivors recounted hearing explosions before the plane went down: Jerova Salihat told Azerbaijani television in an interview in the hospital that “something exploded” near her leg, and Vafa Shabanova said “there were two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground.”
Dmitry Yadrov, the Russian aviation chief, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area for air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land in Grozny, he was offered other airports as an alternative but decided to fly to Aktau in Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea.
He didn’t comment on statements from some aviation experts, who pointed out that holes seen in the plane’s tail section suggested that it could have come under fire from Russian air defence systems.
Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country’s North Caucasus.
Azerbaijan Airlines blamed the crash on unspecified “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn’t say where the interference came from or provide any further details.
Kremlin declines to comment
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the claims that the plane was hit by Russian air defences, saying that it will be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
“The air incident is being investigated and we don’t believe we have the right to make any assessments until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
If it’s proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian air defences, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.
Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defence system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base.
Investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny as part of the crash probe, Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement.
Airlines pause flights to some Russian cities
Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities.
The company will continue to operate flights to six Russian cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air also announced Friday that it was suspending flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg for a month.
FlyDubai also halted flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russia for the next few days.
The day before, Israeli El Al suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.” The airline said it would reassess the situation next week.
Published at Thu, 26 Dec 2024 13:02:23 +0000
More political turmoil in South Korea as acting president also impeached by lawmakers
South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted Friday to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo despite vehement protests by governing party lawmakers, further deepening the country’s political crisis set off by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law and ensuing impeachment.
Han’s impeachment means he will be stripped of the powers and duties of the president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to dismiss or reinstate him.
The court is already reviewing whether to uphold Yoon’s earlier impeachment. The impeachments of the country’s top two officials has worsened its political turmoil, deepened economic uncertainties and hurt its international image.
The single-chamber National Assembly passed Han’s impeachment motion with a 192-0 vote.
Lawmakers with the governing People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote and gathered around the podium where assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik was seated and shouted that the vote was “invalid” and demanded Woo’s resignation.
The PPP lawmakers protested after Woo called for a vote on Han’s impeachment motion after announcing its passage required a simple majority in the 300-member assembly, not a two-thirds majority as claimed by the PPP. Most South Korean officials can be impeached by the National Assembly with a simple majority vote, but a president’s impeachment needs the support of two-thirds. There are no specific laws on the impeachment of an acting president.
In a statement, Han called his impeachment “regrettable” but said he respects the assembly’s decision and will suspend his duties to “not add to additional confusion and uncertainty.” He said he will wait for “a swift, wise decision” by the Constitutional Court.
Han’s powers were officially suspended after copies of his impeachment document were delivered to him and the Constitutional Court. The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, took over.
Later Friday, Choi’s office said he instructed the military to boost its readiness to help prevent North Korea from miscalculating the situation and launching provocations. He also told the foreign ministry to inform the U.S., Japan and other major partners that South Korea’s foreign policies remain unchanged.
Han, who was appointed prime minister by Yoon, became acting president after Yoon, a conservative, was impeached by the National Assembly about two weeks ago over his short-lived Dec. 3 imposition of martial law.
Han quickly clashed with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party as he pushed back against opposition-led efforts to fill three vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, establish an independent investigation into Yoon’s martial law decree and legislate pro-farmer bills.
At the heart of the fighting is the Democratic Party’s demand that Han approve the assembly’s nominations of three new Constitutional Court justices to restore its full nine-member bench ahead of its ruling on Yoon’s impeachment. That’s a politically sensitive issue because a court decision to dismiss Yoon as president needs support from at least six justices, and adding more justices will likely increase the prospects for Yoon’s ouster.
Yoon’s political allies in the governing People Power Party oppose the appointment of the three justices, saying Han shouldn’t exercise the presidential authority to make the appointments while Yoon has yet to be formally removed from office.
South Korea’s parliament voted Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law decree, a historic rebuke that was cheered by jubilant crowds who described the outcome as another defiant moment in the nation’s resilient democratic journey.
On Thursday, Han said he wouldn’t appoint the justices without bipartisan consent. The Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the assembly, submitted an impeachment motion against Han and passed bills calling for the appointment of three justices.
South Korean investigative agencies are probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power with his marital law decree. Yoon has repeatedly ignored requests by authorities to appear for face-to-face questioning.
His defence minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon’s decree.
Published at Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:38:50 +0000
