Azerbaijan’s president says Russia unintentionally shot down jetliner that crashed in Kazakhstan
The president of Azerbaijan mentioned Sunday that the passenger airplane that crashed final week, killing 38 individuals, was unintentionally shot down by the Russian army. He additionally accused Russia of attempting to “hush up” the problem for a number of days.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev informed state tv on Sunday that the Azerbaijan Airways Flight 8243 was “shot down accidentally.”
“We will say with full readability that the airplane was shot down by Russia. (…) We aren’t saying that it was achieved deliberately, however it was achieved,” he mentioned.
Meiramgul Kussainova/Anadolu by way of Getty Pictures
He added that the airplane had come below some form of electrical jamming and had been shot at whereas it was approaching the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny.
Aliyev accused Russia of attempting to “hush up” the problem for a number of days, saying he was “upset and stunned” by variations of occasions put ahead by Russian officers.
“Sadly, within the first three days we heard solely absurd variations from Russia,” Aliyev mentioned, citing statements made in Russia that attributed the crash to birds or the explosion of some form of gasoline cylinder.
“We witnessed clear makes an attempt to cowl up the matter,” mentioned the Azerbaijani chief, who has shut ties to Russia.
Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Picture by way of AP
The Azerbaijani airplane was flying from the capital metropolis of Baju to Grozny on Wednesday when it diverted off track. It crashed whereas attempting to achieve one other airport in Aktau, in western Kazakhstan.
Cellphone footage seems to indicate the plane making a steep descent earlier than hitting the bottom and exploding in a fireball about two miles from the Aktau airport.
The airline mentioned 67 individuals had been on board — 62 passengers and 5 crew members — and 38 individuals died within the crash. There have been 29 survivors.
Aliyev mentioned Azerbaijan made three calls for to Russia in reference to the crash.
“First, the Russian facet should apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, it should admit its guilt. Third, punish the responsible, deliver them to prison duty and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,” he mentioned.
Aliyev famous that the primary demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for Wednesday’s “tragic incident [that] occurred in Russian airspace.”
/ AP
The Kremlin mentioned that air protection techniques had been firing close to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, the place the airplane tried to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.
A Kremlin assertion didn’t say Russia had shot down the airplane, solely noting it launched a prison probe into the incident.
Aliyev famous that Azerbaijan was all the time “in favor of a gaggle of worldwide specialists” investigating the crash, and had “categorically refused” Russia’s suggestion that the Interstate Aviation Committee, which oversees civil aviation within the Commonwealth of Impartial States, examine it.
“It’s no secret that this group consists principally of Russian officers and is headed by Russian residents. The components of objectivity couldn’t be totally ensured right here,” Aliyev mentioned.
On Friday, White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby informed reporters that U.S. officers “have seen some early indications that will surely level to the chance that this jet was introduced down by Russian air protection techniques.”
He confirmed that the U.S. has intelligence or data pointing to the chance however mentioned Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are presently conducting the investigation and the U.S. will “respect that course of.”
Passengers and crew who survived the crash informed Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the plane because it was circling over Grozny.
