Tag: Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has expressed confidence that Russia is responsible for the crash of the AZAL airline plane on December 25. This was reported by Azertag.

“I can say with certainty that the fault for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this disaster lies with the representatives of the Russian Federation,” Aliyev said.

He emphasized that Azerbaijan demands a transparent investigation, punishment of the perpetrators and fair treatment of the victims and their families.

According to Aliyev, the decryption of the plane’s black boxes is currently underway, and a preliminary picture of the tragedy will be known in the near future. “This will be an important step in the investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice,” the president said.

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On December 25, a plane with 67 people on board crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan. The crash killed 38 people. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly called Aliyev twice after the crash, expressing condolences and apologies for the “tragedy in Russian airspace.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a new telephone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday, during which the leaders continued discussing various issues related to the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax. He did not give details of the conversation.

Putin’s press secretary’s statement came against the background of Ilham Aliyev’s interview with Azerbaijani television. In it, Aliyev said that in the first days after the disaster, Azerbaijan ‘heard nothing from Russia but delusional versions.’ He also demanded that Moscow admit guilt in the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, punish those responsible and pay compensation.

The day before, on 28 December, Putin and Aliyev had already called each other. Then the Russian president apologised to Azerbaijan for the ‘tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace’ and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stated that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, claiming 38 lives, was struck by shelling originating from Russia. Azerbaijani state television AzTV reported the remarks on Sunday.

Aliyev expressed regret over what he described as attempts by certain Russian factions to obscure the truth about the Azerbaijan Airlines crash. According to Reuters, the Azerbaijani leader criticized Moscow for spreading false narratives about the incident.

“The Russian authorities should have promptly admitted their responsibility, issued an apology to Azerbaijan, and made this known to the public. Baku demands Moscow acknowledge guilt, hold those responsible accountable, and provide compensation,” Aliyev said during an interview with AzTV.

He further dismissed early claims suggesting the crash was caused by a collision with a flock of birds. “The fact that the fuselage was riddled with holes entirely rules out that version,” he noted.

Aliyev also criticized alternative explanations presented by Russian officials, such as a gas cylinder explosion, describing them as an attempt to downplay the issue. “Such claims only serve to tarnish the reputation of the Russian side,” he said.

While the final conclusions will depend on data from the plane’s black boxes, Aliyev stressed that initial evidence strongly indicates external damage to the Azerbaijani aircraft near Grozny, Russia. He also alleged that electronic warfare was used to destabilize the plane, leading to its crash.

However, the Azerbaijani president clarified that he does not believe the plane was deliberately shot down.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev for what the Kremlin referred to as a “tragic incident” involving Russian air defenses targeting Ukrainian drones, which allegedly led to the crash.