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Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said the plane which crashed into Aktau was damaged due to shooting from Russia. At least 38 people were killed in the plane crash on Wednesday.
The Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday, killing 38 people. (Reuters Image)
In a big claim, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, claiming the lives of 38 people, was damaged due to shooting from the ground in Russia, as per the Azeri state media.
Aliyev said he regretted that “some circles” in Russia had tried to hush up the truth about the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines planes by sowing false narratives about the causes of the crash. This came after Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to Aliyev for the crash.
The Azeri President claimed the plane was shot down “by accident” as Russian air forces engaged with Ukrainian drone attacks, adding that the plane had come under some sort of electronic jamming and had been shot at while it was approaching the Russian city of Grozny.
He criticised “absurd” reports from Russia which attributed the crash to bird strikes and gas cylinder explosions. “We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter,” said Aliyev, who has close ties to Russia and was educated at a top university in Moscow.
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Want Russia To Accept It’s Guilty: Aliyev
The Azerbaijan President said he wanted Russia to accept that it was guilty of downing the plane and punish those responsible for fatally damaging the craft. The Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 carrying 67 passengers crashed on Wednesday near Aktau after diverting from southern Russia due to drone attacks from Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of 38 people.
Azerbaijan paid tribute to the pilots and passengers, as Captain Igor Kshnyakin and co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov – both ethnic Russians with Azerbaijan citizenship – were given full honours alongside flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva in central Baku. The pilots have been lauded in Azerbaijan for landing in a way which allowed 29 people to survive but led to their own deaths.
The ceremony at the Alley of Honour, Azerbaijan’s most sacred modern burial ground, was attended by Aliyev and his wife. Azerbaijan’s presidential office said the pilots battled to control the plane after being hit with holes in the fuselage and some crew members injured. “Only through the courage and professionalism of the pilots was an emergency landing successfully carried out,” it added.
Vladimir Putin Apologises To Aliyev
On Saturday, Putin apologised to his Azerbaijan counterpart over the plane crash, describing it as a “tragic incident”. Putin expressed condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
“(President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin further said that air defence systems were firing near Grozny due to a Ukrainian drone strike. “At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks,” it said. Russia stopped short of saying that it had shot down the plane, saying a criminal case was opened.
(with agency inputs)
- Location :
Baku, Azerbaijan
