Azerbaijan Identifies Russian Officer Who Shot Down Passenger Plane Near Grozny

Azerbaijan has identified the person responsible for the downing of an Embraer ERJ-190 passenger plane near Grozny.

This was reported by the local media outlet Minval Politika.

The commander of the Pantsir-S1 that shot down the civilian plane was Dmitry Sergeevich Paladychuk, commander of the No. 274 squadron.

He is serving in the 1st Division of the 80th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the Mobile Reserve of the 14th Army (military unit No. 75564).

Despite the fact that more than seven months have passed since the tragedy, none of those involved has yet been punished.

The tragedy of flight 8432

An Embraer ERJ-190 passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, declared an emergency at approximately 11:20 a.m. local time.

Despite the crew’s requests for an emergency landing, the damaged aircraft was denied entry at all Russian airports. It was ordered to continue its flight across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh city of Aktau.

It is known that technical problems on board were confirmed during the flight over the Caspian Sea, as evidenced by video recordings made by passengers.

According to the Azerbaijan’s President, the plane was initially disoriented by Russian electronic warfare. Almost simultaneously, the tail section of the aircraft was severely damaged by ground fire.

At the time of the missile hit, Russian media disseminated images of spent 57E6E anti-aircraft missile upper stages used in Pantsir-S1 systems. This confirms the combat activity of such systems in the region during the incident.

The plane crash killed 38 people, including 23 citizens of Azerbaijan, 7 of Russia, and 6 of Kazakhstan.

Official accusations

At the end of December, President Ilham Aliyev publicly accused Russia of the Embraer ERJ-190 tragedy.

According to him, the Russian government should admit its guilt, officially apologize to Azerbaijan and provide a truthful explanation of the circumstances of the incident.

However, during the first three days after the crash, the Russian side put forward only absurd versions of the incident and has not yet officially recognized its involvement.

In this regard, Baku has refused to transfer the investigation to the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), which is mostly composed of Russian representatives. Instead, Azerbaijan insists on the creation of an international working group to objectively and impartially investigate the causes of the tragedy.