International
Azerbaijani government sources say AZAL plane was hit by Russian missile
The Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, was hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missile, two Azerbaijani government sources told EFE on Thursday on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, Flight 8432, from Baku, was hit by shrapnel from a surface-to-air missile while it was in the airspace of the Russian city of Grozny, its destination.
They also said that the authorities did not allow the emergency landing requested by the pilots of the Embraer 190 at Russian airports and diverted it towards the city of Aktau, in Kazakhstan, for which it had to fly over the waters of the Caspian Sea.
According to the pro-government agency Caliber.Az, the missile used against the plane was a Pantsir-S.
The same media outlet reports that Russian sources acknowledge that Russian anti-aircraft defences were trying to shoot down Ukrainian drones in the skies over Chechnya, where the AZAL plane was flying.
In addition, the head of the Center for Combating Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Andri Kovalenko, said that the plane was shot down by a Russian air defense system.
“The explosion of an air defense missile damaged the plane and disabled its systems,” Kovalenko wrote on Telegram.
The black boxes are found
The black boxes of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, have been found at the scene of the tragedy, Kazakh officials said today.
“During the inspection of the crash site, two flight recorders were discovered, which will be handed over to the Air Accident Investigation Department,” Abilaibek Ordabaev, the transport prosecutor of Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, told a press conference.
He added that inspection work at the site of the accident, which covers more than 4,000 square meters, is “in the final stage.”
According to Kazakh sources, specialists from the Brazilian company Embraer will be in charge of decoding the black boxes. They will arrive in the Central Asian country tomorrow to join the investigation.
Attacks on Grozny
The holes in the plane’s fuselage that appeared during the flight and can be seen in the passengers’ images could not have been caused by birds, as initially reported by Russian sources, he said.
“Russia had to close the airspace over Grozny, but it did not do so,” Kovalenko stressed, referring to the risks created by the drone attack that was taking place in Grozny at the same time.
The Russian city was attacked by drones on Wednesday morning, according to the secretary of the Chechen Security Council and nephew of the head of the region, Jamzat Kadyrov.
“Everything that flew was shot down,” he said on Instagram.
The Ukrainian official said the plane “was damaged by the Russians and sent to Kazakhstan instead of making an emergency landing in Grozny and saving lives.”
The Kremlin calls for not rushing into hypotheses
Only the professionalism of the plane’s pilots prevented Russia from “turning this story into a Russian provocation against Ukraine,” he said, warning that Russia will do everything possible to hide its own responsibility for the plane crash and the deaths of people.
On Wednesday morning, 38 of the 67 people on board the plane died in the accident near the city of Aktau (Kazakhstan), after failing to land in the Russian city of Grozny (Chechnya).
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency earlier said the plane “hit birds” after which its captain decided to land at an alternate airfield in Aktau, Kazakhstan.
The Kremlin today called on people not to rush to conclusions about the causes of the crash.
“It would be a mistake to formulate hypotheses before the conclusions of the investigation. We, of course, will not do so and no one should do so,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov at his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov insisted that it was necessary to “wait until the investigation is over.”
NATO calls for a “thorough” investigation
Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office spokesman Kanan Zeinalov said Thursday that Azerbaijani and Kazakh specialists are working together to clarify the causes of the tragedy, and Brazilian experts are also expected to join them.
Several pro-war Russian military bloggers, including Fighterbomber, have added their support to the theory that the aircraft was possibly shot down by Russian air defenses, noting that alleged shrapnel impacts can be seen in images of the wreckage of the plane.
NATO has called for a “thorough” investigation into the crash.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243. We wish those injured in the accident a speedy recovery and call for a thorough investigation,” NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said in a message on social media.
International
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking
Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing
Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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