President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with the survivors and families of the crew members who died in the crash of the Azerbaijani plane on December 25. He said that his country demands a “humane approach” to this natural disaster from Russia. According to unofficial reports, this vehicle was mistakenly shot down by Russian air defenses.
– It is known that the plane was damaged by open fire from the ground. It is clear that electronic warfare has made it impossible to control the aircraft. But why was the plane directed to Aktau? We still do not have information about this, said Ilham Aliyev, referring to the independent Russian website Meduza.
According to Aliyev, the operation to close the airspace in Grozny was announced after the plane was shot down from the ground. He made sure that the crew members kept cool and that the pilots did everything to save lives.
The president announced that in Brazil, where the plane was manufactured, the process of opening the plane’s black boxes has begun. He noted that Baku is opposed to this solution because, according to Azerbaijan, it may not be objective.
– The attempt of the Russian state structures to cover up this incident and stick to absurd versions causes surprise, regret and anger, – Aliyev continued.
– The blame for the death of Azerbaijani citizens in this natural disaster lies with the representatives of Russia. We demand justice, punishment of the guilty, complete transparency and humane treatment, Aliyev said in a meeting with surviving crew members and relatives of the victims.
Plane crash in Kazakhstan EPA/MINISTRY OF EMERGENCY
Plane crash in Kazakhstan
38 people were killed in the accident at the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Christmas Day. Most of the 67 passengers of the Embraer 190 were citizens of Azerbaijan.
The car was flying from Baku to Grozny. As it neared its target, the Ukrainian drone attack on Grozny continued. The captain directed the plane to Aktau, which is located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. On approach to landing, the plane disintegrated and caught fire.
According to unofficial reports, this vehicle was mistakenly shot down by Russian air defenses.
Passenger plane crash site near Aktau, Kazakhstan PAP/EPA
Putin apologized for the tragic incident
Aliyev previously accused Moscow of concealing responsibility for the natural disaster and demanded a public apology and compensation from it. Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev for the “tragic incident” of the Azerbaijani plane and admitted that on the day of the crash, the Russian air defense forces repelled attacks by Ukrainian drones in the Russian Caucasus. However, he did not confirm that one of the Russian missiles hit the plane.
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A week ago, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan announced that the Russian authorities have undertaken to identify and punish those who contributed to the natural disaster.
Main image source: EPA/KAZAKHSTAN MINISTRY OF EMERGENCY
