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ReutersThe leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has asked Russia to accept the crime that happened in the plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day.
The plane is believed to have come under fire from Russian air defense systems as it attempted to land in Chechnya before being diverted to Kazakhstan where it crashed.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the President of Azerbaijan for shooting down the plane in Russian airspace – but he stopped short of responding.
Aliyev accused Moscow of a “cover-up” in its involvement in the crash. Accepting Putin’s apology, he said Russia “must admit its guilt” and pay compensation.
An Azerbaijan Airlines flight was en route from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to the Chechen capital of Grozny on December 25 when it was believed to have been set on fire.
Flight J2-8243 was forced to take off from Chechnya and crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.
Most of the people who boarded the plane were from Azerbaijan, as well as some from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Aviation experts and others believe that the plane’s GPS was affected by an electrical shock and damaged by shrapnel from an explosion of Russian anti-aircraft missiles.
But Aliyev said that, in the following days, “Russian agencies released translations [of events] about the explosion of the gas cylinder” which “clearly showed that the Russian side wants to cover up the matter”, according to the transcript of the interview with state media.
He also said that some people in Russia adopted the fact that the plane was hit by a bird. Aliyev described all these ideas as “foolish and dishonest”.
The President of Azerbaijan admitted that the plane was shot down by accident, but said that in the first three days after the crash, “we heard nonsense interpretations from Russia”.
Baku asked Moscow for more information on the incident, he said, only one – an apology – so far.
On Saturday, Mr Putin said a “tragic incident” had occurred when Russian air defense forces shot down Ukrainian drones, and offered his “deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims”.
The Russian president admitted that the plane made repeated attempts to land at Grozny airport, in Chechnya.
However, at that time the cities of Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz “were attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” Putin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said that Russia should “stop spreading lies” and that the downing of the plane was “reminiscent of an anti-aircraft missile strike”.
The Kremlin’s statement did not directly confirm that the plane was shot down by Russian missiles.
Aliyev said Baku wanted Russia to “admit its guilt”, punish those responsible, and pay compensation to Azerbaijan and the injured people who survived the accident.
Azerbaijan and Russia are allies. The President of Azerbaijan said: “No one would have thought that in a friendly country, our plane would be shot down.”
His words came as Azerbaijan paid tribute to the pilots and passengers of the downed plane.
Three crew members – Captain Igor Kshnyakin, co-pilot Alezander Kalayaninov and co-pilot Hokuma Aliyeva – were awarded special honors for getting off the plane in a way that allowed 29 people to survive, although they died.
