A plane going from Azerbaijan to Russia crashes in Kazakhstan, Ukraine blames Russia.
A new front has opened in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has alleged that Russia was behind the crash landing of a plane going from Azerbaijan to Russia in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day. Ukrainian media is claiming that Ukraine had carried out drone attacks in Chechnya on Christmas Day, to stop which Russia had used air defense missiles and these missiles damaged the Azerbaijani plane and it eventually crashed.
The pilot of the plane going from Baku in Azerbaijan to Chechnya in Russia had reported that a flock of birds had come in front of the plane. It is believed that the collision of the plane with the flock of birds caused heavy damage to the engine and other parts of the plane and seeing that the pilot decided to make an emergency landing. The plane kept hovering over the western areas of Kazakhstan for a long time. The plane crashed while landing at Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan. But the question arises that what the pilot was considering as a flock of birds were actually a large number of drones?
Plane crash video and investigation analysis
It is not clear from the video footage and initial investigation whether there was any external attack on the plane. Experts say that the pilot's report and evidence found at the crash site indicate that there was no major external damage to the plane and neither was the plane on fire before landing. After a missile or drone attack, there is a possibility of a fire in the plane or a part of the plane getting damaged, but nothing like this is visible in the video.
The sudden arrival of flocks of birds or the damage caused to planes by them is not a new thing. According to the initial investigation report of the Russian or Kazakhstan authorities, the plane crashed due to technical fault. However, Ukrainian officials have termed it as Russian propaganda and have demanded an investigation. According to them, Russia is making the excuse of a flock of birds hitting the Azerbaijani plane to hide the blame for this incident.
History of old plane crashes related to Donbass
This is not the first time a plane crash has sparked political controversy during the Russia-Ukraine war. In 2014, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by rebels in the Donbas with a missile, killing 298 people. The case was litigated in the Netherlands for years and Russia was held internationally responsible for the incident.
New controversy, new tension
The Azerbaijani plane crash could further escalate tensions between Ukraine and its backed countries Russia. This incident has put another question mark on regional stability and diplomatic relations. Now the question is whether this accident was the result of a bird collision, or is it another hidden front of the Russia-Ukraine war?