Azerbaijan calls on Russia to take the blame for the plane crash on Christmas Day

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called on Russia to take responsibility for the plane crash on Christmas Day that killed 38 people.

The plane is believed to have come under fire from Russian air defense systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya before being diverted to Kazakhstan, where it crashed.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the President of Azerbaijan for the downed plane in Russian airspace, but did not accept responsibility.

Aliyev accused Moscow of initially “covering up” his involvement in the disaster. After accepting Putin’s apology, he said that Russia “must admit its guilt” and pay compensation.

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane was flying from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, on December 25 when it was allegedly fired upon.

Flight J2-8243 was forced to divert from Chechnya and crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.

Most of the passengers of the flight were from Azerbaijan, others from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Aviation experts and others believe that the plane’s GPS was affected by electronic interference and then damaged by shrapnel from Russian anti-aircraft missile blasts.

But Aliyev said that in the days following the incident, “Russian agencies released versions (of events) about the explosion of a gas cylinder,” which “obviously show that the Russian side wants to hush up this issue,” the transcript reads. an interview with the state media.

He also said that some people in Russia have latched onto the theory that the plane was shot down by birds. Aliyev called both theories “stupid and dishonest”.

The President of Azerbaijan admitted that the plane was shot down by accident, but said that in the first three days after the disaster, “we heard only absurd versions from Russia.”

Baku has made a number of demands on Moscow over Friday’s incident, he said, only one of which – an apology – has so far been met.

On Saturday, Putin said the “tragic incident” occurred when Russian air defense systems shot down Ukrainian drones, and expressed his “deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims.”

The President of Russia admitted that the plane repeatedly tried to land at the Grozny airport in Chechnya.

However, at the time, the cities of Grozny, Mazdok and Vladikavkaz “were attacked by Ukrainian drones, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” Putin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia should “stop the spread of disinformation” and that the damage to the plane’s fuselage was “very reminiscent of an air defense missile strike.”

The Kremlin did not directly admit that the plane was shot down by Russian missiles.

Aliyev said that Baku demanded that Russia “admit its guilt”, punish the guilty and pay compensation to Azerbaijan and the victims of the disaster.

Azerbaijan and Russia are allies. The President of Azerbaijan said: “No one could have thought that in a country friendly to us, our plane would be shot down from the ground.”

His statement was made at a time when the pilots and passengers of the downed plane were commemorated in Azerbaijan.

Three crew members — captain Igor Kshnyakin, co-pilot Alexander Kalaianinov, and flight attendant Hokuma Aliyev — were awarded outstanding awards for landing the plane in a way that allowed 29 people to survive, even if it resulted in their own deaths.