Russia must admit guilt over downing Azerbaijani airliner, pay compensation, Azerbaijan's president says
Editor's note: The article was updated with additional comments from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Russia must admit responsibility for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane after it was hit by fire from the ground over Russian territory, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a television interview on Dec. 29.
Flight J2-8243 was flying from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to Grozny in Chechnya before changing course and crashing in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 people. Multiple reports and official statements indicated that Russian air defense fire was responsible for the disaster.
"We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia... We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done," Aliyev said in the interview with the state-run Azerbaijan Television, accusing Russia of attempting to "hush up" the incident.
"Of course, the final version will be known after the black boxes are opened. But the initial versions are also well-founded and based on facts," the head of state added.
"And the facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian aircraft was damaged from the outside, over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and practically lost control.
"We also know that our aircraft was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare," the Azerbaijani president said, adding that the tail section was seriously damaged as a result of fire from the ground.
Aliyev further said that on Dec. 27, Baku delivered its list of demands to Russia, including an apology, an admission of responsibility, holding the perpetrators criminally responsible, and paying compensation to the Azerbaijani state and the affected passengers and crew members.
"These are our conditions. The first of them was already fulfilled yesterday. I hope that our other conditions will be accepted as well," Aliyev said in the interview, according to the Azerbaijan State News Agency.
Putin, who has fostered close economic and political ties with Azerbaijan, called Aliyev on Dec. 28 to apologize "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace" without commenting on whether the plane was hit by Russian air defenses.
The Kremlin said that the plane made multiple attempts to land at Grozny airport during a Ukrainian drone attack, which was reportedly repelled by Russian air defenses.
Western countries said the disaster was a result of Russia's "reckless" behavior and called for a transparent investigation.
Putin and Aliyev held another phone call about the plane crash on Dec. 29, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, without revealing details.
Oleg Sukhov
