Azerbaijan suspends flights to southern Russia and rejects aid from Chechen authorities
Azerbaijani airline AZAL suspends flights from Baku to Grozny and Makhachkala, as well as to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa and Samara until the final investigation into the causes of the crash of the Embraer passenger plane is completed. The reason for this decision is the risks to flight safety.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan announced that it was sending its employees to Grozny to investigate the causes of the plane crash.
In addition, Azerbaijan will not accept aid from the Chechen authorities.
"Neither the state of Azerbaijan nor its citizens will accept such aid. We provide and will continue to provide the necessary assistance to our citizens. Azerbaijan demands recognition of the fact, an apology and payment of appropriate compensation," a source in the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan told the Day.az website.
The day before, the Chechen authorities reported that “on the instructions of Ramzan Kadyrov, they are ready to provide financial and other assistance to all the families of those killed and injured” in the crash.
The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 passenger plane, which was flying from Baku to Grozny and crashed on December 25 in the Kazakh city of Aktau, was hit by a missile fired by a Russian air defense system. This interpretation of the events was voiced by Euronews, citing unnamed sources in the Azerbaijani government, and was supported by many publications and bloggers. The fact that the plane was damaged by a Russian air defense system may be indicated by photos and videos showing holes in the skin of its surviving wreckage. Of the 67 people on board, 29 survived.
