Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has called on Russia to accept responsibility for the tragic crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that killed 38 people last week. Speaking on state television, Aliyev revealed that preliminary investigations showed the aircraft was damaged by a Russian surface-to-air missile while flying over Chechnya.
According to Euronews, the Azerbaijani leader outlined his government’s demands, which include a formal apology, acknowledgment of guilt, punishment of those responsible, and compensation for the victims and the state. “These are our conditions. The first of them was already fulfilled yesterday,” Aliyev said, referring to an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone conversation on Saturday.
According to Aliyev, Putin explained that the missile launch coincided with alleged Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian cities, including Grozny, Vladikavkaz, and Mozdok. Aliyev emphasized that the crash was unintentional but underscored the need for accountability.
“We also know that our aircraft was rendered uncontrollable by means of electronic warfare,” Aliyev stated, adding that fire from the ground caused significant damage to the plane’s tail section. He said the final conclusions would be based on black box data but noted that the preliminary findings were “sufficiently substantiated and based on facts.”
