The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan this week killing 38 people, was damaged due to a shooting from the ground in Russia, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday. He also accused Moscow of having tried to hide the cause of a deadly jet crash and called for Russia to admit "guilt" in the disaster.
President Aliyev said he regretted that "some circles" in Russia had tried to hush up the truth about the crash, in which 38 of the 67 people on board were killed, by sowing false narratives about the causes of the crash, the Azerbaijan state television reported.
Baku regretted that Moscow "put forward theories" that "clearly showed the Russian side wanted to cover" up the issue, he said.
"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 said in televised comments, according to state news agency, Azertag.
"We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control," he said, adding that "at the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged."
He added that "of course," the Azerbaijani plane "was hit by accident. Of course, there can be no talk of a deliberate act of terror here."
"Therefore, admitting the guilt, apologizing in a timely manner to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about this - all these were measures and steps that should have been taken," he said.
Putin's "Apology"
This came after Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Saturday "apologised" to Aliyev for what the Kremlin called a "tragic incident", but he stopped short of accepting that it might have been hit by Russian fire.
However, Putin did admit that Russian air defences were at work when the passenger plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing. Moscow had earlier said that Grozny, where the plane was due to land but instead crashed in western Kazakhstan, was attacked by Ukrainian drones that day.
The Kremlin said Putin apologised to Azerbaijani leader Aliyev over the "tragic incident" in a phone call, but did not say Russian air defence shot the plane.
Azerbaijan's Allegations
Earlier, Azerbaijan's transport minister said the plane that crashed on December 25 was subjected to "external interference" and damaged inside and out, as it tried to land in Russia's southern republic of Chechnya.
"All [survivors] without exception stated they heard three blast sounds when the aircraft was above Grozny," Rashad Nabiyev said.
In an earlier statement issued after Putin's phone call with Aliyev, Baku's presidency appeared to show no doubt that the plane was hit over Russia.
"President Ilham Aliyev emphasised that the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control," the statement said.
Aliyev's office said Baku has also demanded an investigation "ensuring those responsible are held accountable."
