Ukrainian drone attack was underway before Azerbaijani plane crashed: Russia

Russia’s aviation chief said Friday that a Ukrainian drone attack was underway in the region of Chechnya at the time an Azerbaijani airliner attempted to land before diverting to Kazakhstan and crashing there earlier this week.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, didn’t comment on statements by an Azerbaijani lawmaker and many aviation experts who blamed Wednesday’s crash on Russian air defence fire.

Authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia were tight-lipped about a possible cause of the crash pending an official probe, but a member of Azerbaijan’s parliament, Rasim Musabekov said on Thursday that the plane was fired on while in the skies over Grozny and urged Russia to offer an official apology.

Asked about Musabekov’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, saying that it will be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.