Azerbaijan Suspends Flights to Multiple Russian Cities after Embraer 190 Crash

Azerbaijan has suspended flights to seven Russian cities following a crash involving an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 aircraft en route from Baku to Grozny.

The decision was announced after preliminary findings indicated external physical and technical interference as the likely cause of the crash.

The affected destinations include Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny, and Makhachkala. Flights to these cities will be halted starting December 28, as the Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation Agency continues its investigation.

Flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Astrakhan, Kazan, and Novosibirsk will continue as planned, with Azerbaijan Airlines ensuring compliance with all safety regulations. Passengers holding tickets for the suspended routes can claim full refunds or opt for free ticket replacements.

The crash

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, operating the Baku-Grozny route, crashed in Kazakhstan's Aktau on December 25, killing 38 people. Initial investigations suggest a Russian Pantsir-S missile hit the plane amid a Ukrainian drone attack in Chechnya. The flight, originally scheduled to land in Grozny, was diverted to Aktau due to fog. However, Russian authorities denied emergency landing requests and reportedly jammed the plane's GPS.

Azerbaijani investigators identified missile-related damage to the aircraft, challenging earlier claims by Russian media that a bird strike caused the incident. The crash, which left 29 survivors, has drawn parallels to the 2014 MH17 tragedy, where Russian forces were implicated in the downing of a civilian plane.