The President of Azerbaijan said on Sunday that the passenger plane was crashed last week, killing 38 peoplewas accidentally shot down by the Russian military. He also accused Russia of trying to “cover up” the issue for several days.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on state television Sunday that Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was “accidentally shot down.”
“We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. (…) We’re not saying it happened intentionally, but it happened,” he said.
Meiramgul Kussainova/Anadolu via Getty Images
He added that the plane encountered an electrical fault and was shot at while approaching the southern Russian city of Grozny.
Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “cover up” the issue for several days and said he was “angry and surprised” about it Versions of events put forward by Russian officials.
“Unfortunately, in the first three days we only heard absurd versions from Russia,” Aliyev said, pointing to statements in Russia that attributed the crash to birds or the explosion of a gas cylinder.
“We have seen clear attempts to cover up the matter,” said the Azerbaijani leader, who has close ties with Russia.
Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
The Azerbaijani plane was flying from the capital Bayu to Grozny on Wednesday when it veered off course. It crashed while trying to reach another airport in Aktau, western Kazakhstan.
Cell phone footage appears to show the plane making a steep descent before hitting the ground about three kilometers from Aktau airport and exploding in a fireball.
According to the airline, there were 67 people on board – 62 passengers and five crew members – and 38 people died in the crash. There were 29 survivors.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan had made three demands to Russia in connection with the crash.
“First, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, she must admit her guilt. Third, it must punish the guilty, hold them criminally responsible and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state and the injured passengers and crew members,” he said.
Aliyev noted that the first demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin did so apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for the “tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace” on Wednesday.
/ AP
The Kremlin said air defense systems fired near Grozny, the regional capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic, where the plane was trying to land to repel a Ukrainian drone attack.
A Kremlin statement did not say that Russia shot down the plane, only that it had opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan has always been “in favor of a group of international experts” investigating the crash and “categorically rejected” Russia’s proposal that the Interstate Aviation Committee, which oversees civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, should investigate. have.
“It is no secret that this organization consists largely of Russian officials and is led by Russian citizens. The factors of objectivity could not be fully guaranteed here,” Aliyev said.
On Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that U.S. officials have seen “some early signs that certainly point to the possibility that this jet was shot down by Russian air defense systems.”
He confirmed that the U.S. has intelligence or information indicating that possibility, but said Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are currently investigating and the U.S. will “respect that process.”
Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media they heard loud noises inside the plane as it circled over Grozny.
