Azerbaijani jet crash: Aliyev demands compensation after Russian fire
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, was damaged due to ground fire from Russian territory, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday, as reported by the Azerbaijani news agency APA.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirmed that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was damaged by ground fire. This information confirms earlier unofficial media reports.
Fired upon from Russian territory
President Aliyev admitted that the plane was fired upon from Russian territory, near Grozny, which nearly caused the pilots to lose control. "We also know that the plane fell victim to electronic warfare devices," the Azerbaijani leader said, as quoted by APA.
He added that the firing was not intentional.
"However, we will only know all the details after the black boxes are examined. Many issues remain unanswered to this day, but they will be clarified," Aliyev stressed.
Demands to Russia
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded compensation from Russia for the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash. According to the APA agency, Aliyev emphasized that Russia must apologize to Azerbaijan, admit its responsibility, punish those accountable, and pay compensation to both the Azerbaijani state and the victims of the tragic flight.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was flying on Wednesday from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny in Chechnya, Russia, when it deviated from its route and crashed in Kazakhstan. Most of the passengers on the Embraer-190 were Azerbaijani citizens. There were also 16 Russians on board, along with several citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Putin apologizes for "incident"
Vladimir Putin apologized in a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the "tragic incident" involving the Azerbaijani passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan. The Embraer-190 was hit by Russian air defence. The crash claimed the lives of 38 people, with 29 survivors.
Putin issued an apology "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace," stated a communiqué published on Saturday on the Kremlin's website.
In the conversation initiated by the Russian side, Putin noted that the plane repeatedly attempted to land at the airport in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. At that time, cities in the Russian Caucasus "were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks."
The communiqué does not indicate that Putin directly admitted that it was a Russian missile that hit the Azerbaijani plane.
