Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Monday once again blamed Russian officials for the plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day and called for them to be punished. “I can say with confidence that the blame for the fact that Azerbaijani citizens died in this disaster lies with the representatives of the Russian Federation,” … Read more
The U.S. has seen “some early indications” of possible Russian involvement in the Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that killed 38, according to the White House. American officials “have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems,” White … Read more
Several airline companies suspended flights to Russia following the deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane Wednesday, as suspicions grow that the aircraft was brought down by Russian air defenses. Azerbaijan Airlines announced it will suspend flights to 10 Russian cities — Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny, Makhachkala, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, and Vladikavkaz … Read more
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said in a post on X on Thursday. “We wish those injured in the crash a speedy recovery and call for a full investigation.” The Kremlin has cautioned against drawing any premature conclusions, and Kremlin spokesperson … Read more
Ukraine’s air force only confirmed the crash on Thursday, three days after the incident. The delay has spurred questions over the circumstances that led to the jet being downed. On Friday, Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla accused Ukraine’s air defense of accidentally shooting down the plane and said it was the third time Ukraine has lost … Read more
“He heroically fought his last battle in the sky. Oleksiy destroyed three cruise missiles and one kamikaze drone, while repelling a massive Russian combined air and missile attack. Oleksiy saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” the air force command said. Russia fired more than 127 missiles and … Read more
“We’ve always had the same philosophy, we help the Ukrainians to fight,” he said. France had until now stopped short of donating fighter jets to Ukraine, arguing that Kyiv needs to focus on obtaining and training on F-16s, which are more common than the Mirages made by the French arms manufacturer Dassault. The Ukrainian president … Read more
Sweden will also donate an undisclosed number of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) used in ground-based and air defense systems, 155mm artillery ammunition and resources to maintain previously donated equipment, as well as its entire stock of PBV 302 armored tracked personnel carriers to support the formation of new Ukrainian units. The Swedish Defence Research … Read more
“It is possible that the interference observed in aviation currently are most likely a side effect of Russia’s self-protection” that is used “to prevent the navigation and control of drones controlled by GNSS [Global Navigation Satellite System] or mobile frequencies,” Traficom said. In any case, the Finnish agency says it is safe to fly to … Read more
There are still big questions as to just who was on the plane, which was filmed as it spiralled into a fiery crash near Belgorod. Yusov said only five bodies were delivered to the Belgorod morgue. Ukrainian journalists from Radio Liberty managed to confirm at least three of them were Russian crew members. Russia has … Read more
