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00:00As the investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines crash continues, Azerbaijan's Minister of
00:06Digital Development and Transportation speculated that the plane may have been hit by a weapon,
00:11but an official confirmation has yet to be released.
00:16The initial conclusion of the Azerbaijani side is that there was definitely external
00:20interference in this incident. However, our investigation team and the aviation experts
00:25involved in the case will determine what type of weapon or missile was used.
00:33According to local media, some Azerbaijani government sources suspect the plane was struck
00:38by Russian air defence while fending off a Ukrainian drone attack. Aviation experts have
00:43pointed to what they believe is supporting evidence seen on the body of the jet that
00:47the plane was hit.
00:50The marks on the tail of the aircraft are truly representative of what we call shrapnel.
00:55In other words, in an air defence missile, you have hundreds and hundreds of steel balls
00:59that go off in all directions, shredding the fuselage of the aircraft, exactly as we can
01:04see here. The aircraft's hydraulic system was certainly affected. That's why it was
01:08difficult to fly the plane at the end of the flight.
01:14Footage on board of the fateful flight appears to show passengers wearing oxygen masks too,
01:20indicating the plane was depressurised. What is known is that Ukraine had repeatedly targeted
01:25southern Russia with drones in the ongoing war. And several strikes were reported there
01:30on the day of the crash, with the Russian defence ministry saying it shot down dozens
01:35of drones in several regions.
01:37The Azal jet was supposedly subject to the electronic jamming that Russia uses to confuse
01:42drones and denied landing elsewhere in southern Russia. Russian authorities have declined
01:47to comment, leaving the investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
01:52Azerbaijan Airlines has announced it would suspend flights to eight more Russian cities,
01:58with other carriers from Kazakhstan, Israel and Dubai also cancelling their flights to
02:02Russia.