The President of Azerbaijan said on Sunday that the passenger plane of crashed last week, killing 38 peoplewas accidentally shot down by Russian soldiers. He also accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev told state television on Sunday that Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was “shot down by accident.”
“We can say with absolute certainty that the plane was shot down by Russia. (…) We are not saying that it was done on purpose, but it was done,” he said.
Meiramgul Kusainova/Anadolu via Getty Images
He added that the plane hit some electrical interference and was fired upon as it approached the southern Russian city of Grozny.
Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for days, saying he was “upset and surprised” versions of events put forward by Russian officials.
“Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia,” Aliyev said, referring to statements made in Russia in which the disaster was attributed to birds or the explosion of a gas cylinder.
“We witnessed clear attempts to cover up this case,” said the Azerbaijani leader, who has close ties to Russia.
Gavriil Grigarov, Sputnik, Kremlin Basin Photo via AP
The Azerbaijani plane was flying from the capital of Baju to Grozny on Wednesday when it veered off course. It crashed while trying to reach another airport in Aktau in western Kazakhstan.
Cell phone footage appears to show the plane descending steeply before crashing into the ground and exploding in a fireball about two miles from the Aktau airport.
The airline said there were 67 people on board — 62 passengers and five crew members — and 38 people died in the crash. 29 people remained alive.
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan made three demands to Russia in connection with the disaster.
“First, the Russian side should apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, admit its guilt. Third, punish the culprits, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, injured passengers and crew members,” he said.
Aliyev noted that the first requirement was “already fulfilled” under Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani colleague for Wednesday “a tragic incident (which) took place in the Russian airspace”.
/ AP
The Kremlin said air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane was trying to land to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.
The Kremlin's statement does not say that Russia shot down the plane, only that it has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan was always “for a group of international experts” to investigate the disaster, and “categorically refused” Russia's proposal that the Interstate Aviation Committee, which oversees civil aviation in the CIS, investigate.
“It's no secret that this organization consists mainly of Russian officials and is headed by Russian citizens. Factors of objectivity cannot be fully ensured here,” Aliyev said.
On Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that US officials “have seen some early indications that certainly point to the possibility that this plane was shot down by Russian air defense systems.”
He confirmed that the US had intelligence or information indicating such a possibility, but said Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were currently investigating and the US would “respect that process”.
Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud sounds of the plane circling over Grozny.