Did Russia shoot down Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243?

Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine announced that: “This morning, an Embraer 190 aircraft of the Azerbaijani airline flying from Baku to Grozny was shot down by a Russian air defense system. Russia was supposed to close the airspace over Grozny, but did not do so. The plane was damaged by the Russians and was sent to Kazakhstan instead of being urgently landed in Grozny and saving lives.” Grozny has been the target of a number of retaliatory Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks, and it was flight J2-8243’s misfortune to arrive at Grozny shortly after such an attack. It seems that Russian air defences mistook the Embraer for a Ukrainian drone, and engaged it with unidentified systems. Surviving passengers said that on the third attempt to land in Grozny, there were some explosions outside the aircraft and that the flight was then diverted across the Caspian to Aktau in Kazakhstan. Passenger video from inside the aircraft showed signs of shrapnel damage, and a woman passenger suffered a leg wound.<br/>