The holes in the fuselage of the crashed airplane in Kazakhstan may have been caused by a strike from a "Pantsir-S1" missile
This conclusion has been reached by several experts and OSINT analysts, according to the portal Agency.
Analyst Oliver Alexander noted that the wreckage of the plane shows entry holes on one side of the vertical stabilizer and exit holes on the other. Such holes cannot be created during a bird strike or crash.
“It appears that each individual fragment that struck the aircraft had enough kinetic energy to penetrate the skin, rather than just creating a dent,” he stated.
Bild journalist Julian Repke points out that the damage resembles external impact, while aviation expert Serik Mukhtayev emphasized that if the accident were caused by a flock of birds hitting the engine, the plane could have continued flying on the second engine.
Military expert Yan Matveev believes that the scattering of damaging elements and the emergence of chaotic damage on the fuselage is possible if the aircraft was hit by a missile from the "Pantsir-S1" system.
“Matveev noted that some of the fuselage damages have a cylindrical shape, which corresponds to the shape of the damaging elements of the "Pantsir-S1" missile system. However, if the aircraft was at a sufficiently high altitude, the missile's power might not have been enough to incapacitate the plane instantly,” the media reports.
The analytical group CIT also believes that the holes in the wrecked aircraft resemble “damage from air defense systems.” However, they clarified that they cannot confidently assert that these marks were caused by an air defense missile strike.
Recall that the aircraft on the Baku–Grozny route crashed on the morning of December 25 near Aktau airport in Kazakhstan. Before the crash, the crew declared an emergency situation due to a bird strike. There were 67 people on board.
According to the latest data, as a result of the plane crash in Kazakhstan, 38 people died.
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