Azerbaijan demands apology and compensation from Russia for downed civilian aircraft
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has voiced his frustration over Russia's alleged attempts to cover up the downing of a civilian aircraft near Grozny, as reported by Trend.
Aliyev is demanding apologies and compensation from Russia, stating that the Russian side pushed theories involving an oxygen tank explosion on board and bird strikes to divert attention from the incident.
According to Azerbaijan, the aircraft, which crashed in Aktau, was hit from the ground near Grozny and was also sabotaged via electronic warfare systems, significantly damaging its tail section. "The facts show that our civilian aircraft was externally damaged over Russian territory near Grozny and almost lost control," Aliyev commented. The final cause of the crash remains pending the declassification of the black boxes.
President Aliyev expressed disappointment that Russian officials floated a version involving a gas tank explosion, suggesting this as an open attempt to sideline the issue. “What was distressing and surprising was that the Russian official structures offered theories of a supposed gas tank explosion. It openly indicated that the Russian side wants to brush this under the carpet,” said Aliyev. He emphasized the need for Russia to timely acknowledge its mistakes and apologize to those affected. “Unfortunately, for the first three days, we heard nothing but absurd theories from Russia,” Aliyev added.
Following the tragedy on the fourth day, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Aliyev to express his apologies.
On the morning of December 25th, an Embraer 190 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, while en route from Baku to Grozny, resulting in the deaths of 38 passengers and five crew members. Images and videos from the crash site showed numerous small punctures on the aircraft’s body, likely caused by an air defense missile explosion. Analysts consider that a "Pantsir-S1" missile, possibly fired by the Russian air defense forces attempting to counter a drone attack on Grozny airport, was involved.