The Kazakh mass media Aq Zhaiyq found out new details of the shooting down of the AZAL plane by Russian air defense.
Now it is increasingly likely that the Russian air defense system fired at the plane as a result of bad military decisions. However, the military is trying to “push” a version that is more convenient for them. Allegedly, the missiles from “Pantsir” were fired at an unknown drone, they missed the target and unsuccessfully self-destructed near the AZAL aircraft.
As it turned out, at the time of the incident, the city of Grozny had the following air defense equipment: two “Pantsir,” an S-300 (recently delivered from Syria), and a Buk air defense system. Only one air defense unit launched missiles.
Fire at the aircraft opened the “Pantsir” settlement, which was dislocated in the Vysaitovsky district near the base of the “Akhmat” special unit. According to the commander of “Pantsir”, their air defense system fired two missiles: at 08 hours 13 minutes 30 seconds and 08 hours 13 minutes 40 seconds.
Missiles exploded at 08:13:50 and 08:14:30. The second missile explosion hit the plane.
At the same time, according to the serviceman, orders to carry out both launches were given from Rostov, by a Russian commander named Borisov.
When he was asked about the targets, the commander of the combat vehicle explained that such a powerful EW was working that it “jammed” not only civilian but also military equipment. In particular, this was reflected in the work of the air defense system.
The investigators asked a direct question: “Does Pantsir’s commander understand that it was a civilian aircraft in the hit zone? Since the aircraft was flying at an atypical altitude for drones and differed from UAV parameters.”
The commander did not answer anything intelligibly, he explained that an order was given for each “launch”, and the plane was not displayed in the air defense system, like a civilian plane.
“How should I know whose plane it was?!”
Confirmation of the version that the plane was hit by one of the missiles fired from Pantsir is the “new” timing. According to the updated data, the impact on the board occurred even earlier, not at 8:16, but around 08:14. The investigators came to this conclusion after carefully listening to the audio file of the negotiations between the dispatcher and the plane’s crew.
It also turned out that the air defense system calculations do not report the flight schedule of civil courts at all! And the commander of the second “Pantsir”, which is based at the airport, visually observed the civilian plane and did not shoot at it. This became known after listening to the background recording from the control room. The commander of the air defense system radioed the dispatcher that he was observing the board within the range of visibility. The investigators asked the commander of this settlement why he did not contact the commander of the tank that fired. And he replied that they had “problems” with the landline. The cellular connection did not work because of the EW too.
Knowing all the details of the war crime, the Russian air defense command put forward a version that was safe for them: supposedly “Pantsir” fired unsuccessfully at the UAV; the rockets, without hitting the target, went on a “safe” upward trajectory and exploded; and the civilian plane was simply in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
According to Aq Zhaiyq, it was this version that the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, singled out as a priority and gave the order to find parts of the UAV that was “destroyed” by Pantsir. But there are still big problems with this. On the second day, Rosgvardiya (National Guard of Russia) personnel searched an area of about 40 square kilometers in search of UAV parts. And predictably found nothing.
That is, everything is leading to the fact that the world has once again witnessed a classic Russian war crime and the corresponding reaction to it. Constantly lying, inventing a thousand new versions every day, blaming everyone around, preventing an independent investigation, and trying to sink a civilian plane in the sea so no witnesses left.
There should be a thorough international investigation, and in the event of irrefutable evidence of guilt, Russia should bear strict responsibility and pay compensation to the dead passengers. Every country should understand that any civilian aircraft can be shot down anywhere over the territory of the Russian Federation and the territories it occupies.
