Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia on Sunday of firing at an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger jet before it crashed and of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster, demanding that Moscow admit guilt.
Aliyev made the accusation in an interview with state media at Baku airport four days after the AZAL plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people of the 67 people on board.
Azerbaijani officials have suggested the aircraft was hit by a Russian air defence system as it tried to land in Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Aliyev’s unusually forthright accusation of his country’s traditional ally came a day after he spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Kremlin statement on 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 the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control,” Aliyev told state television.
“We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control … At the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, 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 hide 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 the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue”.
“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, pointing out that the plane’s “fuselage is riddled with holes”.
Russia has said Grozny was being attacked by Ukrainian drones the day the AZAL flight tried to land.
