Ilham Aliyev accuses Russia of shooting at the Azerbaijan Airlines plane and trying to cover up the cause of the disaster.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called on Russia to “admit its guilt” for unintentionally shooting down an Azerbaijani passenger plane, an accident that killed 38 people and injured 29 others.
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday while en route to Grozny, the capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia.
“We can say very clearly that Russia shot down the plane,” Aliyev told Azerbaijani state television on Sunday. “We’re not saying it was done intentionally, but it was done.”
He explained that the plane was hit by ground fire over Russia and “made it uncontrollable due to electronic warfare,” forcing it to deviate from its course before it attempted an emergency landing and crashed. Originally, the Kremlin said the accident occurred after the Embraer 190 collided with a flock of birds, but mounting evidence suggests the cause was an anti-aircraft missile.
Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “cover up” the issue for several days, saying he was “disturbed and surprised” by the conflicting accounts given by Russian officials. “Unfortunately, in the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except delusional stories,” he said.
Last week, a Kazakh aviation safety expert told Al Jazeera, on condition of anonymity, that “no bird could ever cause such damage.” “It is ridiculous and criminal to demand such a thing,” the expert said.
Amid the backlash, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Aliyev for the “tragic incident” in Russian airspace, saying that Russian air defenses had intercepted Ukrainian drones.
The Kremlin statement did not say that Russia shot down the plane, but only indicated that a criminal case had been opened.
Aliyev urged Moscow to issue a public apology to his country, saying that Baku had made official “demands” to Russia two days ago.
“First, the Russian side should apologize to Azerbaijan. Secondly, she must admit her guilt. Third, those responsible must be punished and brought to criminal liability and compensation must be paid to the Azerbaijani state as well as to the injured passengers and crew members. These are our conditions,” he said, adding that the first demand had already been addressed with Putin’s apology.
The Kremlin said Putin and Aliyev spoke by phone again on Sunday, without providing details. the The Kremlin has already announced a joint investigation into the incident with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
