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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of an “absurd” cover-up after its air defenses allegedly “shot down” a passenger jet last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the “tragic incident” this weekend, but the Kremlin has not officially said that Russian air defenses shot down the plane. At least 38 people were killed in the incident.
“Our plane was accidentally shot down,” Aliyev told state television on Sunday. Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia.
“We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter,” he added.
Evidence-gathering efforts are underway at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 27, 2024. (Meiramgul Kussainova/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A Kremlin statement said the incident occurred after Russian air defenses engaged Ukrainian drones, but did not directly say Russian forces shot down the plane.
Aliyev is a close ally of the Putin regime and the two spoke by phone on Sunday about the incident. Neither side released details of their conversation.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev leaves a polling station in Khankendi, Azerbaijan. (Press office of the President of Azerbaijan via AP)
Crew members and survivors of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer plane with 190 people on board say they heard at least one loud bang before the plane crashed on Christmas Day.
Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers on flight J2-8243, told Reuters from the hospital that he began reciting prayers and preparing for the end after hearing the explosion.
The plane was on its way from the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, reports the Associated Press. (Mangystau Region Administration)
“After the explosion… I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Rakhimov told the newspaper. “It was obvious that the plane was damaged in some way. It was like it was drunk – it’s not the same plane anymore.”
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Surviving passenger Vafa Šabanova said that there were “two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
