Aliyev said that the plane crashed due to shelling from the ground and demanded that Russia admit guilt
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the AZAL plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was damaged "due to shelling from the ground." According to him, the tail section of the plane was severely damaged as a result of gunfire.
"Baku demands that Moscow admit guilt, punish the perpetrators and pay compensation. The Russian authorities should have admitted guilt in a timely manner, apologized to Azerbaijan and communicated this to the public," Aliyev said.
He recalled that initially, Russian official structures put forward a version about a gas cylinder explosion, which showed their intention to hush up the issue, and this, in his opinion, "does not do credit to anyone."
"The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from outside on Russian territory, near the city of Grozny. After that, it practically lost control. We also know that our plane was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare systems," the Azerbaijani president said in an interview with local television.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, called the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan and promised to establish all the causes and circumstances of the air crash in Aktau. The Investigative Committee's press release states that "during the conversation, the parties identified the primary tasks within the framework of the joint investigation plan, expressing their readiness for further comprehensive cooperation."
