The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, demands punishment for those responsible for the AZAL aircraft disaster near Aktau. He made this statement during a meeting with the relatives of the deceased and surviving crew members. "I can confidently say that the blame for the death of Azerbaijani citizens in this tragedy lies with representatives of the Russian Federation. And we demand justice, we demand punishment for the guilty, we demand complete transparency and humane behavior," - quotes Aliyev as reported by the AZERTAC agency.
I can confidently say that the blame for the death of Azerbaijani citizens in this tragedy lies with representatives of the Russian Federation. And we demand justice, we demand punishment for the guilty, we demand complete transparency and humane behavior."Ilham Aliyev.
The President of Azerbaijan reminded that currently in Brazil, the country that manufactured the crashed aircraft, the process of decoding the black boxes is underway, in order to fully restore the "picture of the tragedy." "This will naturally be an important moment in the complete investigation of this tragedy and the punishment of those responsible for it," noted Aliyev.
The "Azerbaijan Airlines" plane, which was operating a flight from Baku to Grozny, crashed on December 25. There were 67 people on board, including 5 crew members; 38 died, and 29 survived. Speaking on state television three days after the tragedy, President Aliyev stated that "the plane suffered external damage on Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and virtually lost control." Sources from our channel in the Azerbaijani government also reported at that time that the aircraft was hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile. Apparently, this refers to air defense, as the plane was landing in Grozny while an attack by Ukrainian drones was being repelled over the city. It has also been reported that the aircraft requested to land at Russian airports but was redirected over the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan.
The Kremlin suggested "not to build hypotheses" and to wait for the results of the investigation. Initially, Moscow considered other causes for the plane's crash - a collision with a flock of birds and an explosion of a cylinder on board. The President of Azerbaijan expressed disappointment at what he called "absurd versions," urging Russia to apologize, punish those involved, and provide compensation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Aliyev twice at the end of December. According to the Kremlin's website, he expressed condolences regarding the fact that "the tragic incident" occurred in Russian airspace.