The president of Azerbaijan said on Sunday that the passenger plane is accident last week, killing 38 peoplewas unfortunately shot down by the Russian military. He also accused Russia of trying to “smother” the issue for several days.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told state television on Sunday that Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was “shot down by accident”.
“We can say with absolute clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. (…) We are not saying it was done on purpose, but it was done,” he said.
Meiramgul Kussanova/Anadolu via Getty Images
He said the plane had come under some kind of electrical jamming and had been shot down while approaching the city of Grozny in southern Russia.
Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “smother” the issue for several days, saying he was “confused and surprised” by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.
“Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia,” said Aliyev, citing statements made in Russia that attributed the tragedy to birds or the explosion of some kind. of a gas cylinder.
“We have seen clear attempts to cover up the issue,” said the Azerbaijani leader, who has close ties to Russia.
Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
The Azerbaijani plane was flying from the capital city of Baju to Grozny on Wednesday when it went off course. It happened while he was trying to reach another airport in Aktau, in the west of Kazakhstan.
Mobile phone footage appears to show the plane descending steeply before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball about two miles from Aktau airport.
The airline said there were 67 people on board – 62 passengers and five crew members – and 38 people died in the crash. 29 people survived.
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan made three requests to Russia in connection with the accident.
“First, the Russian side must apologize 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,” he said.
Aliyev noted that the first request was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin he apologized to his Azerbaijani colleague for “a tragic incident (that) Wednesday in Russian airspace.”
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The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian Republic in Chechnya, where the plane attempted to land, to defend against a Ukrainian drone strike.
The Kremlin statement did not say that Russia had shot down the plane, only noting that it had launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan was always “in favor of a group of international experts” investigating the crash, and that it had “categorically rejected” Russia's proposal that the Interstate Committee for Aviation , which is in charge of civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, examined it.
“It is no secret that this group is made up mostly of Russian officials and is headed by Russian citizens.
On Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that US officials “have seen some early signs that would certainly indicate that this jet could be taken down by Russian air defense systems.”
He confirmed that the US has intelligence or information indicating the possibility but said that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are currently conducting the investigation and that the US would “respect that process.” “
Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane as it circled over Grozny.
