Crash in Kazakhstan: plane targeted by “fire” from Russian territory, according to Azerbaijani president

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced on Sunday that the plane of the national airline which crashed this week had come under “fire” from Russian territory, and accused Moscow of having wanted to cover up its responsibility.

Russia did not recognize the strike

Since Wednesday, the day this plane crashed in Kazakhstan after failing to land in Grozny in southern Russia, suspicions have been growing around a Russian anti-aircraft defense shot.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a Kremlin statement, apologized to Ilham Aliev on Saturday for the incident, acknowledged shooting but did not admit that the plane was hit by mistake by the Russian army. He also claimed that the area was then under attack from Ukrainian drones.

“Absurd theories”

The Azerbaijani president publicly pointed out Russia’s “guilt” during an interview on national television, while noting that the “plane was hit by accident”.

The aircraft was “made uncontrollable by military means of electronic jamming” in the sky over Grozny and “its tail was also seriously damaged” by shots from Russian soil, he said on television, according to the Azertag state agency.

“Unfortunately, during the first three days, we heard only absurd theories from Russia,” he accused.

Ilham Aliev estimated that the various versions of the facts put forward in Russia – collision with birds, explosion of a gas balloon in the plane – “clearly show that the Russian side wanted to cover up the affair”.

Friendly country

“Admitting (one’s) guilt, issuing a timely apology to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about it, these are all measures and steps that should have been taken,” he said. -he said.

“After examining the flight recorders and obtaining more detailed information, a complete picture of what happened will be made public,” Ilham Aliev insisted.

Three demands

According to him, Baku made three demands on December 27: an apology, recognition of guilt and punishment of those responsible.

“The first was heard on Saturday (with apologies from Vladimir Putin, editor’s note). I hope that the other conditions will be accepted too,” he insisted.

On Wednesday, the Embraer 190 plane of the Azerbaijani company Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near Aktau in western Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, while the plane was supposed to connect Baku to Grozny, two cities located on the opposite bank.

According to Russian news agencies, Ilham Aliev and Vladimir Putin spoke on Sunday.

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