Since Wednesday, the day an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan after failing to land in Grozny, suspicions have been growing around a Russian anti-aircraft defense shot, degrading relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a Kremlin press release, apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart, acknowledged the shooting but without admitting that the plane had been hit.
Insufficient for Ilham Aliev. Near Grozny, the plane “almost lost control” because of the “military electronic jamming” systems that were in action, then “the tail of the aircraft was also seriously damaged by fire from the Russian ground.” , recalled the president in a television interview reported by the Azertag agency. He pointed out Russia’s “culpability”, while noting that “the plane was hit by accident”.
Apologies and compensation
The crash left 38 dead, and 29 people survived. Testimonies from the latter and images of the tail of the plane riddled with holes had supported the theory of a Russian anti-aircraft defense attack without Moscow commenting. Ilham Aliev, whose country maintains good relations with Russia, regretted that Russian authorities and media have put forward various versions, such as a flock of birds or the explosion of a gas balloon on board, in an attempt to “to cover up the affair”.
Russia must therefore apologize, admit its responsibility, punish the guilty and pay compensation to Azerbaijan and the victims of the crash, demands Ilham Aliev. “The first was heard on Saturday. I hope that the other conditions will be accepted too,” he insisted. “Admit (one’s) guilt, apologize in due time […] and informing the public about this, these are all measures and steps that should have been taken,” regretted the Head of State. “Unfortunately, during the first three days, we heard only absurd theories from Russia,” he added.
According to Russia, Grozny was the target of a Ukrainian drone attack on the day of the crash and was enveloped in thick fog which prevented all visibility above an altitude of 500 meters. According to her, it was the captain, after having tried twice without success to land in Grozny, who chose, between several airport proposals, to go to Aktau in Kazakhstan, on the other side of the Caspian Sea, where the aircraft ultimately crashed.
