Aktau Plane Crash - The Times Of Central Asia

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AZAL Plane Crash

Putin Admits Russian Missile Shrapnel Hit Azerbaijani Airliner

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russian missile fire had damaged an Azerbaijani airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, 2024, offering new details about an incident that fueled tension between Moscow and Baku this year. Putin spoke about the crash, which killed 38 of the 67 people on board, in a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of a regional summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Russian leader’s comments represented an effort to repair relations with Azerbaijan, which had harshly criticized what it described as Russian efforts to avoid responsibility for the disaster. Kazakhstan is leading an investigation of the crash, which occurred near the city of Aktau after the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was struck while trying to land in Grozny, Chechnya, and then diverted across the Caspian Sea. Details about the extent of Russia’s collaboration with the probe led by Kazakhstan have not been publicly announced. But Putin, who previously made a general apology without taking full responsibility, said Russia is providing “every possible assistance” to the investigation as it nears a conclusion. "The first thing is that there was a Ukrainian drone in the sky. We were tracking three such drones, which crossed the Russian Federation border at night," Putin said, according to RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency. He also said there was a technical failure in the air defense system. "The two missiles that were fired did not directly hit the aircraft (if that had happened, it would have crashed on the spot), but exploded - perhaps self-destructing - a few meters away, somewhere around ten meters,” RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying. “And so, the hit occurred, but not primarily from the warheads, but most likely from debris from the missiles themselves. That's why the pilot perceived it as a collision with a flock of birds, which he reported to Russian air traffic controllers, and all of this is recorded in the so-called ‘black boxes.’" Some security analysts have said the missiles may have been designed to explode near targets and spray them with shrapnel, a theory that would raise questions about Putin’s account of a technical failure. Putin said compensation and other matters related to the crash will be done, but it will "require some time." AZERTAC, Azerbaijan’s state news agency, carried a similar account of Putin’s comments, which were welcomed by Aliyev. “You are personally overseeing the course of the investigation, and we had no doubt that it would thoroughly and objectively determine all the circumstances,” Aliyev said, according to AZERTAC. “Therefore, I would like once again to express my gratitude that you deemed it important to address this issue during our meeting.” Even so, questions remain about whether Azerbaijan will secure everything it has asked for in connection with the crash. While Russia says insurance payments have been made to crash survivors, victims’ relatives, and Azerbaijan Airlines, there is no word on whether those believed to have fired on the aircraft will face judgment. At...

Aktau Plane Crash

Russia Says It Has Paid Compensation for Kazakhstan Plane Crash

Russia says insurance payments have been made for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau in December 2024, potentially meeting a demand of Azerbaijani officials who assert the plane was hit by Russian ground fire before diverting and crashing. While Azerbaijan’s government had said Russia should pay compensation for the disaster that killed 38 of the 67 people on board, it has yet to secure other demands, including full acknowledgement of responsibility for the crash and punishment of those believed to have fired on the aircraft as it tried to land in Grozny, Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Russian insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie JSC has been making insurance payments since February in connection with the crash, which had taken off from Baku. AlfaStrakhovanie is one of the largest insurance companies in Russia and has been under Western sanctions because of the war in Ukraine. “The Azerbaijani airline was paid insurance compensation for the plane in the amount of the full insured value - 1.003 billion rubles,” the equivalent of $12.3 million, the Russian ministry said. “Claims in connection with the injuries and deaths of 46 of the 62 passengers on the flight have been fully settled, including full payments for 7 of the 15 Russian citizens, 35 of the 38 Azerbaijani citizens, all 3 Kyrgyz citizens, and 1 of the 6 Kazakh citizens,” the ministry said. “To date, insurance payments have been made to the injured passengers of the plane and relatives of the deceased for a total of 358.4 million rubles.” The payment to injured passengers and relatives of the deceased is the equivalent of $4.4 million. The Russian ministry said work was continuing with those groups for the purposes of a “full settlement.” There was no specific mention of the five Azerbaijani crew members in the Russian statement. Two pilots and one flight attendant died. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered a general apology for the crash without providing details about what happened at a time when, according to Russia, the area around Grozny was under attack from Ukrainian drones. Azerbaijan has said it will seek redress in international courts, indicating it has doubts about the outcome of a crash investigation being led by Kazakhstan. Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who has sharply criticized Russia because of its alleged evasiveness over the crash, were seen shaking hands in a brief encounter at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, China earlier in the week. But they didn’t hold a meeting on the sidelines of the event, possibly indicating that there is still significant tension in the relationship between the two countries.

AZAL Plane Crash

Despite Kazakh-led Inquiry, Azerbaijan to Take Plane Crash Case to International Courts

After months of collaborating with an investigation led by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan now also plans to seek redress in international courts over the Dec. 25, 2024, crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that it says was hit by Russian ground fire before diverting to the western Kazakh city of Aktau. Azerbaijan’s turn to international institutions reflects frustration with what it views as Russian intransigence in the investigation of what happened to Flight 8243, as well as the sensitivities for Kazakhstan as it leads a probe that could implicate Russia, its powerful neighbor and key trading partner. In a sense, Kazakhstan is caught in the middle, unable so far to satisfy Azerbaijan’s push for accountability for the crash and apparently unable to get full cooperation from Russia in the investigation. Unlike Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan has refrained from criticism of Russia, even though six Kazakhstanis were among those who died in the plane crash, and Kazakh emergency crews went into potential danger after rushing to pull survivors from the wreckage. Kazakhstan’s low-key approach is possibly an outcome of its efforts to appear impartial during the inquiry as well as its policy of maintaining smooth diplomatic ties, despite any disagreements or tension with major regional players, including Russia and China. Flush with military victories over Armenia and buoyed by close ties with allies such as Türkiye, Azerbaijan feels less constrained to nurture its traditional relationship with Moscow, its ruler during Soviet and Russian colonial times. On Saturday, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan referred to years of international investigations and inquiries that found Russia-backed separatist rebels had shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, and that Russia bore responsibility – a conclusion rejected by Moscow. Aliyev said Azerbaijan was prepared to wait just as long to clear up the case of the Azerbaijan Airlines crash, in which 38 of 67 people on board died. “We will not forget,” Aliyev said, according to Minval Politika, an Azerbaijani news outlet. “We are currently preparing, and we have already informed the Russian side that we are preparing a dossier for submission to international courts on this matter. We understand that this may take time. In the case of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing, it took more than ten years. We are ready to wait ten years, but justice must prevail.” The remarks by Azerbaijan’s leader at a media forum in the Azerbaijani city of Shusha show that ties between the two nations face protracted tension as long as the dispute persists, though there are other sources of friction between them, including detentions of each other’s citizens. Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized for the crash without taking responsibility or providing details about what happened at a time when, according to Russia, the area around Grozny was under attack from Ukrainian drones. Azerbaijan also wants those responsible to be punished, compensation to be paid to families of the victims, and Azerbaijan Airlines to be compensated for the loss of the Embraer 190 plane that crashed. The aircraft...

AZAL Plane Crash

New Plane Crash Allegations Add Fuel to Russia-Azerbaijan Dispute

Earlier this year, Azerbaijan lashed out at Russia over the Dec. 25, 2024 crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that the government said was hit by accidental Russian ground fire before crashing in Kazakhstan. Now, Moscow is coming under fresh scrutiny over the crash, which killed 38 of the 67 people on board, as a broader dispute between Russia and Azerbaijan sharply escalates. On Wednesday, an Azerbaijani news outlet, Minval Politika, published an anonymous letter and other materials purportedly containing a Russian air defense captain’s assertion that the Russian Defense Ministry gave the order to shoot down the plane as it tried to land in Grozny, Chechnya. The outlet says it can’t confirm the authenticity of the letter, and Russia has previously said an official investigation should run its course. But the dramatic allegation and the timing of the apparent leak to Minval Politika are likely to heighten acrimony at a particularly sensitive moment. Minval Politika said it felt compelled to publish the information for “society,” and that the “data obtained can serve as useful information for the competent authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan investigating the circumstances of the tragedy.” The wider confrontation stems partly from the arrests of dozens of people of Azerbaijani origin by Russian security officials in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg last week. Two ethnic Azerbaijani brothers died in those raids, which Russian officials said were part of an old murder probe. Azerbaijan then detained staff at the Baku office of Russian state media group Sputnik, alleging fraud and other crimes. Russia, in turn, accused Azerbaijan of “unfriendly” conduct. The rift lays open the delicacy of relations between regional power Russia and most former Soviet republics that, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, have developed trade, diplomatic, and other ties with Moscow while trying to strengthen their own sovereignty and national identity, and engage with other international partners. Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan – have generally maintained this balance and looked for diplomatic solutions to concerns such as discrimination against Central Asian migrants in Russia. At the other end of the spectrum, Ukraine has been in an all-out war with a Russian invading force for more than three years. Azerbaijan, in the South Caucasus region, has long maintained an alliance with Russia, which has gradually been losing influence in the area as it focuses on the Ukraine war and as Türkiye and other players gain more clout. Azerbaijan’s relationship with Russia soured markedly because of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash and what Azerbaijani authorities and commentators saw as an evasive Russian response to the disaster. The incident put Kazakhstan in a difficult position because the crash happened on its territory, just outside the Caspian Sea city of Aktau, and Kazakh authorities were therefore the leaders of an investigation that required the full cooperation of Russia to understand what really happened. Russian President Vladimir Putin had apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, but did not acknowledge that...

Aktau Plane Crash

Russian Insurer Pays Compensation for AZAL Crash Near Aktau

The Russian insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie has completed payments under aviation hull insurance for the Embraer 190 aircraft operated by AZAL Airlines that crashed near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau. Additionally, compensation payments to passengers have begun, according to Ilya Kabachnyk, Deputy General Director for Aviation and Space Insurance at the company. "Full payment for the aircraft was made in February," Kabachnyk stated, noting that a significant portion of the risk was reinsured by the Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNPC). While the exact amount of compensation has not been disclosed, industry experts estimate it to be between $25 million and $30 million. Compensation payments to passengers began in January and are ongoing. These payments are being made in accordance with the Montreal Convention of 1999 and Russia’s Compulsory Insurance of Civil Liability of Carriers (OSGOP) law, which provides for compensation of up to 2 million RUB (approximately $22,000) for injury or loss of life. Regarding potential claims for damage to third parties, Kabachnyk said no such claims have been received so far. "If they arise, we will work with the airline accordingly," he added. Investigation and Cause of the Crash The crash occurred on December 25, 2024, during an AZAL flight from Baku to Grozny. There were 67 people on board, 38 of whom died, the majority of them Azerbaijani citizens. According to Reuters, citing an unnamed source, the aircraft was shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S missile. Azerbaijani authorities have supported this claim, stating that they have recovered fragments of the missile. In early February, Kazakhstan published a preliminary report on the crash, which described external damage to the aircraft.

AZAL Plane Crash

Azerbaijan Mulls Praise from Chechnya Two Months After Crash

Two months ago, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan after – Azerbaijan says – it was accidentally hit by Russian ground fire in the Russian region of Chechnya. Now Chechnya’s leader says he wants to give an award to the surviving crew members, an announcement that initially angered some people in Azerbaijan, considering the alleged culpability of forces on the ground. Two of five crewmembers survived the Dec. 25 crash that killed a total of 38 people on the airliner that had been flying from Baku to Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, only to divert across the Caspian Sea and crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau. Twenty-nine people survived. A preliminary report led by Kazakhstan ruled out technical malfunction and said parts of the plane were hit by foreign objects. The report didn’t confirm the objects were missile shrapnel. On Feb. 27, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has sent troops to fight with Russian forces against Ukraine, said surviving Azerbaijan Airlines flight attendants Zulfugar Asadov and Aydan Rahimli had been nominated for the "For Merit to the Chechen Republic" award because of their courage and professionalism. “In memory of the victims of the air disaster, a memorial plaque will be installed in Grozny,” Kadyrov said on Telegram. “Flight attendants have always been the first line of support for passengers, ensuring their safety and comfort during flights. In the face of crisis, they acted swiftly and decisively, doing everything they could to assist those on board, said Kadyrov, who expressed condolences to Azerbaijan and its people and spoke of “our shared grief.” Media in Azerbaijan widely covered Kadyrov’s statement about the flight attendants, which was unlikely to ease Azerbaijani demands that those suspected of shooting at the airliner be turned over for prosecution. On the contrary, the Caliber.Az media outlet reported that the Chechen leader’s award was initially met with “public outrage” in Azerbaijan. However, another Azerbaijan-based organization, the Trend News Agency, said Azerbaijan had concluded that Kadyrov’s statement was “acceptable” because investigations showed that Russian military personnel, not Chechnya’s leadership, were responsible. Trend cited an unidentified source in Azerbaijan’s government. Kadyrov is a Putin loyalist with considerable autonomy whose forces have been accused of killings, disappearances and other abuses. Chechen troops, sometimes compared to a private army, are nominally under federal Russian control. Putin has apologized for the crash, saying Russian air defenses were repelling attacks by Ukrainian drones at the time when the Azerbaijani plane was trying to land. He has not acknowledged that the plane was hit by Russian fire.