The White House knows better: "There are signs that the Baku—Grozny side was shot down by Russian air defense"

The coordinator for Strategic Communications of the US administration, John Kirby, said that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny could have been shot down by the Russian air defense.

"The White House saw the initial signs that the Baku-Grozny flight could have been shot down by Russian air defenses," Kirby told reporters.

He refused to answer the question about what these "primary signs" are.

Users of social networks in the comments to this news note that no other reaction could have been expected from the US authorities.

"The automatic flight recorders have not yet been delivered to the laboratory, but in Washington already knows the result!" — notes Alexander Ignatenko.

As reported by EADaily, the Embraer 190 aircraft, flying from Baku in Grozny, crashed near Aktau on December 25. There were 67 people on board, including five crew members. 38 people died, 29 survived. Among the passengers were 16 Russians, seven of them died.

At first, the Federal Air Transport Agency and Azerbaijan Airlines linked the plane crash with a collision with birds and urged to wait for the results of the investigation. The surviving passengers told about the explosion during the flight. On December 27, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Dmitry Yadrov, announced that the liner had not landed in Grozny because of the fog and the "Carpet" plan, which was introduced due to the terrorist attacks of Ukraine. He also said that the commander of the aircraft was offered other airports, but he decided to fly to Aktau.

The Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev said that the plane could have been influenced from the outside. According to him, the members of the commission created after the crash went to Aktau, where they examined the scene and talked with the victims. The surviving passengers and flight attendants heard the explosion when the plane was in the sky over Grozny, and one of the crew members was wounded in the arm, Nabiyev claims. "Traces of holes can be seen on the wing of the airliner," and damage to the fuselage and traces of "various cutting tools" were recorded inside the aircraft, the Azerbaijani minister said.