After plane crash in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan president accuses Russia and demands confession

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during a funeral ceremony in memory of the crew of the plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, outside Baku, on December 29, 2024. PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN / VIA REUTERS Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said on Sunday December 29 that the plane of Azerbaijan Airlines which crashed on Wednesday in Kazakhstan had suffered “fire” from Russian territory, accusing Moscow of having wanted to hide the causes of this tragedy. Since Wednesday, the day of the crash of this plane which failed to land in Grozny, in the south of Russia, suspicions have been growing around a Russian anti-aircraft defense shot. Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a Kremlin statement, apologized to Mr. Aliev on Saturday, acknowledged the shooting but without admitting that the plane had been hit. He also claimed that the area was then under attack from Ukrainian drones. According to Mr. Aliev, this Embraer 190 aircraft of the Azerbaijani national airline which left Baku on Wednesday “was damaged from the outside above Russian territory, near the city of Grozny”, the capital of Chechnya, its destination . Near Grozny, the plane “almost lost control” because of the “military electronic jamming” systems that were in action, then the tail of the aircraft was seriously damaged by shots from Russian soil, continued Mr. Aliev in a television interview reported by the Azertac agency. He pointed out Russia’s “guilt”, while noting that the “plane was hit by accident”. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Russia suspected of having mistakenly shot down an Azerbaijani plane heading towards Grozny Read later Apologies and compensation The crash left 38 dead, and 29 people survived. Testimonies from the latter and images of the tail of the plane riddled with holes had supported the theory of a Russian anti-aircraft defense attack without Moscow commenting. Mr. Aliev, whose country maintains good relations with Russia, regretted that Russian authorities and media had put forward various versions, such as a flock of birds or the explosion of a gas balloon on board, to trying to “cover up the affair”. Russia must therefore apologize, admit its responsibility, punish the guilty and pay compensation to Azerbaijan and the victims of the crash, Mr. Aliev said. “The first was heard on Saturday [avec les excuses de M. Poutine]. I hope that the other conditions will be accepted too,” he insisted. ” Admit [sa] guilt, apologizing in a timely manner (…) and informing the public about it, these are all measures and steps that should have been taken,” regretted Mr. Aliev. “Unfortunately, during the first three days, we heard only absurd theories from Russia,” he added. Also read the decryption | Article reserved for our subscribers Vladimir Putin’s African allies worried about Moscow’s reliability: “Everyone has been asking questions since the events in Syria” Read later According to Russia, Grozny was the target of an attack on the day of the crash Ukrainian drone attack and was shrouded in thick fog which prevented visibility above an altitude of 500 meters. According to her, it was the captain, after having tried twice without success to land in Grozny, who chose, between several airport proposals, to go to Aktau in Kazakhstan, on the other side of the Caspian Sea, where the aircraft ultimately crashed. Le Monde Mémorable Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Discover “After examining the flight recorders and obtaining more detailed information, a complete picture of this what happened will be made public,” President Ilham Aliev promised on Sunday. According to Russian news agencies, MM. Aliev and Putin spoke again on Sunday. Kazakh investigators announced that the plane’s black boxes, which record flight data, would be sent to the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) in Brazil, the country of the plane’s manufacturer Embraer. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for an impartial investigation. “If the conclusion is that this tragedy was the work of fighters, the perpetrators must be held accountable and brought to justice,” the IATA director general said. Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



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