Three Crew Members of the Baku-Grozny Flight Are Buried in the Alley of Honor in Baku

Igor Kshnyakin, captain of the Embraer 190 airliner, Alexander Kalyaninov, pilot, and Hokuma Aliyeva, flight attendant, who were awarded the high title of National Hero of Azerbaijan, were buried on Sunday at the Second Alley of Honor in Baku.

The Embraer 190 aircraft, operated by AZAL, crashed near the Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan. The state funeral was attended by government officials, public figures, and representatives of civil society.

Following the tragedy, a State Commission was established by the directive of President Ilham Aliyev to investigate the causes of the crash, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ali Asadov.

Sources within the Azerbaijani government claim that the crash was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile. According to the sources, the missile was launched during an air defense operation against Ukrainian drones over Chechnya. Reports indicate that an explosion occurred near the AZAL flight, and shrapnel struck the aircraft, injuring passengers and crew.

The damaged flight, designated 8432, was allegedly denied emergency landing permission at Russian airports. Pilots were instructed to proceed over the Caspian Sea toward Aktau, Kazakhstan. The sources further claim that the aircraft’s GPS navigation systems were jammed during the flight over the sea.

Azerbaijani officials identified the weapon as a Pantsir-S air defense missile. Meanwhile, Russian military sources confirmed active air defense operations against Ukrainian drones in the region during the incident but denied any connection to the crash.

Kazakh authorities released data on the passengers and crew aboard the ill-fated flight. Of the 67 people onboard, including five crew members, 38 were killed, and 29 survived.

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport, Marat Karabayev, provided details of the casualties at a briefing in Aktau:

• Azerbaijan: 37 passengers (23 fatalities, 14 survivors)
• Russia: 16 passengers (7 fatalities, 9 survivors)
• Kyrgyzstan: 3 passengers (all survived)
• Kazakhstan: 6 passengers (all fatalities)

The investigation into the crash is ongoing, with authorities working to determine the factors that led to the disaster.