DISINFO: The Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash was a provocation to blame Russia
SUMMARY
Exactly as if the Azerbaijan Airlines flight JS-8243 was a planned operation, it was synchronised with a Ukrainian drone attack. After, it would be possible to blame Russia for using air defence. Why did the plane head towards Grozny specifically? Why did it not change its direction towards a different airport when it noticed that GPS signals were jammed?
The reason is probably a political will to provoke a tragedy and blame Russia for it.
RESPONSE
A conspiracy theory about the tragedy of Azerbaijan Airlines flight JS-8243 to Grozny, suggesting that the passenger plane was intended to crash in Grozny to accuse Russia of the incident.
On 25 December 2024, a civilian plane from Azerbaijan Airlines was damaged by external explosions in the skies over Grozny, Chechnya. After being denied the right to make an emergency landing in Russia, it crossed the Caspian Sea and crashed in Kazakhstan. 32 people survived. Although the investigation into the causes of the accident is only beginning at the time this case was published, it is already established that the plane’s GPS navigation systems were reportedly jammed throughout the flight over the sea and that the plane was targeted by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system as it approached Grozny. According to the outlet, Russian electronic warfare systems ‘completely paralysed the communication systems’ of the Azerbaijani aircraft, causing it to disappear from radar.
The day after the publication of this narrative, following Azerbaijan’s demand for apologies, the Kremlin publicly declared that ‘the Azerbaijani passenger airliner was flying according to schedule and repeatedly tried to land at Grozny Airport.’ Apologies were inevitable after photographs of the fuselage excluded the possibility of a bird strike or internal balloon explosions. Additionally, Euronews leaked official Azerbaijani information indicating that a Russian missile was the cause of the crash, and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs leaked information about their efforts to hush up the case.
Pro-Kremlin channels simultaneously broadcast a short hahaganda video in which Russian air defence proudly shot down the civilian flight of Santa's sleigh in presence of Ded Moroz.
Read also related stories such as: British publications are preparing a provocation to blame Russia similar to MH17, or The MH17 crash was the first in a series of similar Ukrainian provocations, like Bucha, or The IL-76, like MH17 in 2014, was shot down as a Ukrainian military provocation.