Russian apologies insufficient after plane crash near Aktau
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was reportedly damaged due to ground fire originating from Russian territory, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated on Sunday, as quoted by the Azerbaijani news agency APA.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confirmed that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was damaged by ground fire. This information supports earlier unofficial media reports.
Fired upon from Russian territory
President Aliyev acknowledged that the plane was fired upon from Russian territory near Grozny, resulting in the pilots nearly losing control. "We also know that the plane was affected by electronic warfare devices," the Azerbaijani leader mentioned, as quoted by APA.
He added that the firing was not intentional.
"However, we will only have all the details once the black boxes are examined. Many questions remain unanswered to this day, but they will be clarified," Aliyev emphasised.
Demands to Russia
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded compensation from Russia for the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash. According to the APA agency, Aliyev emphasised that Russia must apologise to Azerbaijan, acknowledge its responsibility, punish those accountable, and compensate both the Azerbaijani state and the victims of the tragic flight.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was en route on Wednesday from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny in Chechnya, southern Russia, when it deviated from its course and crashed in Kazakhstan. Most of the passengers on the Embraer-190 were Azerbaijani citizens. There were also 16 Russians on board, alongside several citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Putin apologises for "incident"
Vladimir Putin apologised in a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the "tragic incident" involving the Azerbaijani passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan. The Embraer-190 was reportedly hit by Russian air defence. The crash claimed the lives of 38 people, leaving 29 survivors.
Putin issued an apology "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace" – as stated in a communiqué published on Saturday on the Kremlin's website.
In the conversation initiated by the Russian side, Putin noted that the plane repeatedly attempted to land at the airport in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. At that time, cities in the Russian Caucasus "were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones, and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks."
The communiqué does not state that Putin directly admitted it was a Russian missile that struck the Azerbaijani plane.
