Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of firing at an Azerbaijan Airways (AZAL) passenger jet earlier than it crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 individuals on board.
In an interview with state media on Sunday, Aliyev demanded that Moscow admit duty for the catastrophe and stop makes an attempt to cowl up the trigger.
The AZAL flight, which was trying to land in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya area, is believed to have been hit by a Russian air protection system.
Aliyev claimed that the aircraft was broken by fireplace from the bottom and digital warfare methods, which brought about it to virtually lose management.
He criticized Russia for initially suggesting theories, together with a chicken strike, to elucidate the crash—describing them as “absurd” and out of contact with actuality, given the injury to the aircraft’s fuselage.
Azerbaijani President claimed that the passenger aircraft had been broken by unintentional gunfire from the bottom in Russia.
Aliyev acknowledged, “Our aircraft was shot down accidentally,” and added that the plane had been subjected to digital jamming earlier than coming beneath fireplace whereas approaching the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny.
Aliyev’s assertion got here a day after a telephone dialog with Russian President Vladimir Putin, throughout which the Kremlin apologised and expressed remorse over the incident however didn’t settle for duty because the Russian authorities had prompt that Ukrainian drones had been attacking Grozny on the time the aircraft tried to land.
Aliyev has made clear calls for from Russia, together with a public apology, acknowledgment of guilt, punishment of these accountable, and compensation for each the Azerbaijani state and the victims.
In the meantime, the Kremlin has known as for a “clear” investigation, however as of now, Russia has not admitted fault.
The US has indicated that it has early proof suggesting Russia’s involvement within the crash, whereas the European Union has known as for an unbiased inquiry.