Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday accused Russia of shooting at an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane before it crashed and of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster, demanding that Moscow admit its guilt.
Aliyev made the allegation in an interview with state media at Baku airport, four days after the AZAL plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Azerbaijani officials have suggested that the plane was hit by a Russian air defense system as it attempted to land in Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Aliyev’s unusually direct accusation against his country’s traditional ally came a day after he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Kremlin statement about the phone call gave no indication that Putin had claimed responsibility for the crash.
“The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control,” Aliyev told state television.
“We also know that the electronic warfare systems left our plane out of control… At the same time, as a result of ground fire, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged,” he said.
Aliyev said that while “of course our plane was hit by accident,” Baku was angry that Moscow had apparently tried to cover up the cause of the crash and demanded its ally admit what happened.
He said it was “regrettable and surprising” that Moscow “put forward theories” that, he said, “clearly showed that the Russian side wanted to cover up the matter.”
“For the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except some absurd theories,” he said, adding that these included the plane hitting a flock of birds. He called the theory “completely removed” from reality and noted that the “fuselage of the plane is riddled with holes.”
Russia has said Grozny was under attack by Ukrainian drones on the day the AZAL flight attempted to land.
Azerbaijani demands
Aliyev urged Moscow to issue a public apology to his country, saying Baku had made official “demands” to Russia two days ago.
“First of all, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Secondly, you must admit your guilt. Third, those responsible must be punished and held criminally accountable, and compensation must be paid to the Azerbaijani state, as well as the injured passengers and crew members.
“These are our conditions,” Aliyev said, in unusually strong language toward Moscow.
The Kremlin said on Saturday that during their telephone conversation, Putin had apologized to Azerbaijan for the “tragic incident.” Putin said Russian air defense was operating in Grozny on December 25 when the plane attempted to land, before veering off and crashing in western Kazakhstan.
The Kremlin statement gave no indication that Putin had said Russia was to blame. Later on Saturday, the Russian leader called for a “transparent” investigation into the crash.
Aliyev’s office said Saturday that he had “emphasized” during the call that the plane had been subject to outside interference from Russia. Russian news agencies reported that Putin and Aliyev discussed the accident again on Sunday.
The United States said this week it had “early indications” that Russia was responsible for the crash, but did not provide details.
The European Union on Saturday called for a “prompt” and “independent” investigation into the accident.
