1 week ago
15
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pointed a finger at Russia on Monday for the downing of a commercial airliner in December that resulted in the deaths of 38 people.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane is believed to have been struck by Russian air defense as it attempted to land in Russia's Chechnya republic.
Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Aliyev's comments come shortly after a rare apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin over the crash. On December 28, Putin extended his condolences to Azerbaijan, but stopped short of saying his country was responsible.
Aliyev's remarks suggest Russia's neighbor and ally, Azerbaijan, is unhappy with the Kremlin's handling of the matter and its response to the incident.
What To Know
The Azerbaijan Airlines jet, which was carrying 67 people, departed from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku and crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day.
The Kremlin has said that as flight J2-8243 attempted to land in Grozny—the Chechen capital—Ukrainian drones were conducting attacks.
At the time the aircraft crashed Grozny and other cities were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense was repelling these attacks, the Kremlin said Putin told his Azerbaijani counterpart Aliyev by phone.
Putin didn't say Russia's air defenses struck the plane.
Aliyev said Monday that he can say "with confidence" that the blame for the death of his citizens in the crash lies with Russia.
He accused Moscow of "an attempt to hush up this matter, to blame it on some birds or a gas cylinder explosion."
The passenger jet was carrying 67 people, including five crewmembers. There were 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, six citizens of Kazakhstan and three citizens of Kyrgyzstan on board the jet.
Who Said What
The Kremlin said in a statement: "Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace."
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday: "I can say with confidence that the blame for the death of Azerbaijani citizens in this crash rests with representatives of the Russian Federation. And we want justice, we want punishment for those to blame, we want full transparency and humane behavior.
"I want to say once again that the information we have is based on the truth. The attempts of Russian government agencies to hush up this incident and insist on absurd versions make us surprised, sorry and justifiably indignant."
What Happens Next
Aliyev said the flight recorders from the downed aircraft plane are now being decoded.
"I am certain that we will learn a tentative result shortly, and everything will fall into its place, the entire picture of the tragedy will become known. And that, naturally, will be important for the full investigation into this tragedy and the punishment of those to blame for it," he said.
