Reuters: Azerbaijani passenger plane hit by Russian "Pantsir-S" air defence system in late 2024

An Azerbaijani passenger plane that crashed in December after being diverted from Russian airspace was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system, a source in the Azerbaijani government told Reuters on February 4.

The Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flight went down on December 25 near the Kazakh city of Aktau after rerouting across the Caspian Sea from southern Russia. All 38 people on board were killed in the crash.

"The Azerbaijani side possesses a fragment of a Pantsir-S missile, which was extracted from the aircraft and identified through international expertise," the source stated.

The latest report by Reuters aligns with earlier findings by Caliber.Az, which first reported that the aircraft had been downed by a strike from the Russian Pantsir-S air defence system.