Russians shot down Azerbaijani plane same way they shot down Malaysian flight MH17 in Donbas

The crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan, is similar to the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in 2014, The Telegraph writes .

An unnamed French aviation expert noted that the crash in Aktau on Christmas Day was "reminiscent" of the MH17 tragedy, when Russian-backed separatists shot down a passenger plane with a surface-to-air missile over the Donbas, killing 298 people.

The Embraer 190 aircraft, flying from Baku to Grozny, deviated from the route for unknown reasons and crashed while landing in Aktau. 38 people died in the crash, 29 managed to survive

Video footage from the scene shows the plane plummeting and exploding on impact with the ground. Other footage shows damage to the plane, including the fuselage being separated from the wings and clear evidence of shrapnel impact.

A specialist from the French BEA agency, commenting on the situation on condition of anonymity, said that the plane's wreckage had "significant damage fromshrapnel." The Baku-based publication AnewsZ suggests that the cause of the disaster could have been a surface-to-air missile fired by the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system over Grozny.

It is known that on the day of the crash, Russian air defense systems were actively used to protect against Ukrainian drones. Official sources report that Russian airports refused to allow the plane to make an emergency landing, which is why it was sent to Aktau.

It is the second time in the last decade that a civilian aircraft may have been shot down by Russian-made missiles. MH17, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was mistakenly identified by pro-Russian forces as a Ukrainian military aircraft.

The investigation found that MH17 was hit by a surface-to-air missile. Shrapnel holes found on the plane were consistent with damage to the Embraer 190.

According to Matthew Borie of Osprey FlightSolutions, both cases could have been a case of mistaken identity:

"MH17 was mistaken for a Ukrainian military aircraft and AZAL-8243 for a Ukrainian drone."

Government sources also said that debris from the missile that likely hit the AZAL plane exploded near the fuselage, causing casualties among passengers and crew.

In the MH17 case, an international investigation team has established the involvement of the Russian military. A court in the Netherlands has found three people guilty of murder for organizing the launch of the missile system that was used to attack the plane.