Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev called on Russia to acknowledge that it fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed last week, accusing Moscow of attempting to cover up the cause of the deadly incident.
Aliyev made the statement during a Sunday interview with state media, four days after the AZAL Embraer 190 plane crashed in western Kazakhstan, resulting in the deaths of 38 out of the 67 people aboard.
Russia’s ‘Absurd Theories’
Azerbaijani officials have suggested that a Russian surface-to-air missile likely struck the aircraft as it attempted to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya. However, there is no concrete proof so far to confirm the accusation.
“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, just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a statement, calling the crash a “tragic incident.”
“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.
Likewise, Aliyev said it was “regrettable and surprising” that the Russian authorities “put forward theories” that “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.
Aliyev dismissed the claim as “completely detached” from reality, emphasizing that the plane’s “fuselage is riddled with holes.”
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight Crash Investigation
Kazakh authorities reported on December 29 that the black box from the crash will be sent to Brazil for investigation. This move aligns with Azerbaijan’s request for a transparent inquiry.
The government in Astana explained that the decision to send the flight recorders to Brazil was made after consultations with both Azerbaijan and Russia, noting that the Azal aircraft was manufactured in Brazil.
“In accordance with the standards of Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, the state conducting the investigation ensures the reading of flight recorders and decides on the selection of a country to read and decode the black boxes,” the statement said, highlighting that Kazakhstan is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
