“Shoot it down!”

Testimony from the Russian air defense officer in Grozny confirms that, although the radar contact could not be visually identified, the order from the Russian government was clear: “shoot it down.” Two missiles were launched, one of which detonated near an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190 as it was preparing to land in Grozny.

Thanks to a combination of the crew’s skill and the resilience of the Brazilian-made aircraft, the plane managed to stay airborne for nearly 400 km over the Caspian Sea before crash-landing at Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board, 29 survived.