Exchanges continue between Azerbaijan and Russia over the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E-190 crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has now called on Russia to formally accept blame for the fatal crash. The aircraft was en route from Baku to Grozny, Russia when it was forced to divert and crash-landed near Aktau.
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J28243
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 was forced to divert after it was unable to land in Chechnya due to bad weather conditions. Following a forced diversion, the aircraft crashed near Aktau, in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 onboard.
The majority of the passengers onboard the flight were from Azerbaijan. Others were from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Claims: Flight Downed by Russian Air Defence Systems
Recent reports increasingly suggest that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash may have been caused by Russian air defense systems. It is believed that ground to air defense systems accidently fired on the commercial aircraft as it approached Grozny airport in Chechnya.
Russian air defenses were actively repelling incoming Ukrainian drones when the incident occurred.
Russia has apologized for the incident but has not admitted responsibility. On Saturday 28 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
He expressed his condolences over the “tragic incident” which took place in Russian airspace. Notably, Putin stopped short of taking responsibility for the downing of the aircraft.
The Kremlin released a statement confirming the telephone exchange between the two national leaders.
“Vladimir Putin apologised that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” it said.
Russia Accused of “Cover Up”
Azerbaijan has accused Russia of a “cover-up” and demanded that Moscow admit its guilt and pay compensation.
On December 29, President Putin placed a further call to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
During the telephone conversation, the heads of state reportedly continued to discuss issues related to the crash of the passenger plane of the Azerbaijan Airlines.
Both sides have confirmed the second telephone conversation between the two leaders. However the two nations have not disclosed further specifics of the points of discussion.
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