New audio from Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 has revealed the moment the passenger plane was allegedly shot down by Russia on Christmas Day last year.
At the time of the crash, the plane - which had departed from Azerbaijan's capital Baku - was carrying 67 passengers before crash landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan while on route to Grozny, Russia.
According to the BBC, the airline said the plane was diverted as a result of fog and caught fire while attempting to make an emergency landing, before breaking in two.
The crash led to the deaths of 38 people.
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In the wake of the crash, Russian officials insisted it was an accident, and that they thought it was a Ukrainian drone.
The plane was allegedly shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile defence system, causing it to crash land after crossing the Caspian Sea.
Following the horrifying incident, Russians claimed Ukrainian drones were attacking the city of Grozny.
The media in Azerbaijan claimed to have received a leaked audio recording of the moment orders were given to fire, which they say shows Russia knew the doomed flight wasn't a drone.
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Media outlet Minval reported on Tuesday that as well as the audio, they had received a video and a note claiming to be signed by a Russian officer, alleging the ministry had cleared the crew to shoot down a 'potential target' in 'very thick fog'.
In the recording, a voice can be heard saying: "Hello! Azimuth 338, range 7,000, altitude 490, speed 118, heading 230."
This voice has been found to belong to Captain Dmitry Paladichuk, who is a Russian air defence officer commanding a missile unit.
A voice answers: "Yes, range is now 7. Fire! I said fire!"
The answer is believed to have come from the Russian air defence unit which replies: "Fired!"
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"Missed… Missed! Again! Fire once more," came the reply.
The horrifying audio captured the moment where the operator replied: "Copy, firing," before the fatal air defence rocket was fired.
A handwritten testimony from Captain Paladichuk has also been leaked where he reportedly revealed how he was ordered by a commander to shoot.
The captain had written: “I was ordered by phone to destroy the target.”
He allegedly said: “At 08:13:30 I ordered the operator to engage. At 08:13:33 the missile cleared the launcher. At 08:13:47 the BM-72V6 [fire] control system reported a miss.
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"At 08:13:48 I ordered a second engagement…. The second missile was launched when the target had the following characteristics: azimuth 311°, distance 8,000 m, altitude 1,300 m, speed 120 m/s.”
The authenticity of the document, video, and audio has not been confirmed.
It has been found that the plane was travelling at around 265mph at the time it was shot down, which is double the speed most drones are capable of.
After being hit, it is claimed the pilots tried to land at three different airports.
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Footage of the crash showed the stricken plane falling into a dive before crashing into the ground, devastatingly close to Aktau airport.
Miraculously, not everyone on board was killed.
Investigators managed to retrieve the black box containing the pilots' final words. One of them said: "I can't execute, control is lost!"
Horrified passengers on the plane was caught on camera making final calls to loved ones and leaving voicemails, some jumping out of their seats to try and find a way to escape.
In the days after the crash, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lay the blame firmly with Russia.
Addressing the nation, he said: "We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia (...) We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done.”
“First, the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt. Third, punish the guilty, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,” Aliyev demanded.
The president later said that Vladimir Putin had apologised to him on 28 December, calling it a 'tragic incident,' however he did not accept responsibility.
According to Reuters, the Kremlin said Putin 'apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.'
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News
Jen Thomas