Azerbaijan’s president accused Russia on Monday of being liable for final month’s downing of a passenger airplane, which Baku claims was shot down by Russian air defenses.
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 of the 67 individuals on board, after being diverted from a scheduled touchdown within the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny.
Moscow has admitted its air defenses have been operational within the space on the time, which it mentioned was beneath assault from Ukrainian drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized that the “incident” occurred in his nation’s air area however has not responded to claims the airplane was hit by Russian weapons.
“The guilt for the death of Azerbaijani citizens lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev mentioned Monday, in response to a press release printed by his workplace.
Aliyev was assembly the surviving crew and members of the family of the crew who died within the incident.
The Azerbaijani chief, who’s near Putin, has issued uncommon fierce criticism of Moscow over the crash, demanding an apology, request for forgiveness and the punishment of these discovered liable for the “criminal” taking pictures of the airplane.
On Monday he mentioned Russia’s “concealment” of the causes and “delusional versions” being put ahead “cause us justifiable anger.”
Initial statements by Russia’s air transport company that the airplane had been pressured to divert after a hen strike have triggered fury in Baku.
Aliyev mentioned air protection measures for Grozny – the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya area, the place the airplane was set to land – have been solely introduced after the airplane had been “shot from the ground.”
“If there was a danger to Russian airspace, then the captain of the plane should have been informed straight away,” Aliyev mentioned.
He additionally questioned why the airplane was despatched a whole lot of kilometers throughout the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh metropolis of Aktau for an emergency touchdown.
“Why it was directed to Aktau, we have no information,” Aliyev mentioned.
Azerbaijan says preliminary outcomes of its investigation present the airplane was hit unintentionally by a Russian air protection missile.
Russia has opened its personal felony probe however has not mentioned whether or not it agrees with Baku’s evaluation.
The airplane’s black packing containers have been despatched to Brazil for evaluation.
Source: www.dailysabah.com