the plane targeted by “fire” came from Russian territory, accuses the president of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced this Sunday, December 29, that the plane of the national airline which crashed this week, killing 38 people, had suffered “shots” coming from Russian territory, and accused Moscow of having wanted to hide its responsibility.

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.

Putin apologizes, but does not admit

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.

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

The device has “been rendered uncontrollable by military means of electronic jamming” in the sky of Grozny and “his tail was also badly damaged” by shots from Russian soil, he said on television, according to the state agency Azertag.

“Absurd theories from Russia”

“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”.

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

Sanction of those responsible

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 Mr. Putin’s apologies, 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 Aliyev and Vladimir Putin spoke on Sunday.