Azerbaijani plane crashed ‘due to shooting from the ground’ and Russia ‘wanted to cover up the issue’ says country’s president

29 December 2024, 11:52 | Updated: 29 December 2024, 12:15

Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev said he did not believe the plane, which crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38, was shot down intentionally, but that some circles in Russia wanted to cover up the issue.

President Ilham Aliyev spoke to Azerbaijani TV, and said he did not believe the plane was shot down intentionally after experts suggested Russian surface-to-air missiles brought it down.

However, he said certain circles in Russia wanted to cover up the truth behind the issue.

The Azerbaijani plane was flying on Wednesday from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it turned towards Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land.

38 passengers were killed, and there were 29 survivors.

In an interview with Azerbaijani TV, Mr Aliyev said: "The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control.

"We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control. This was the first impact on the plane. At the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged.

"The fact that the fuselage is riddled with holes indicates that the theory of the plane hitting a flock of birds, which was brought up by someone, is completely removed from the agenda."

He added: "Unfortunately, however, some circles in Russia preferred to put forward this theory. Another regrettable and surprising moment for us was that official Russian agencies put forward theories about the explosion of some gas cylinder on board the plane.

"In other words, this clearly showed that the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue, which, of course, is unbecoming of anyone.

"Of course, our plane was hit by accident. Of course, there can be no talk of a deliberate act of terror here.

"Therefore, admitting the guilt, apologising in a timely manner to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about this - all these were measures and steps that should have been taken.

"Unfortunately, for the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except for some absurd theories."

Russian President Vladimir Putin had apologised to Mr Aliyev on Saturday for what he called a "tragic incident", after many experts suggested Russia had shot the plane down. Remarkably, he stopped short of taking responsibility for the crash.

In an official statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny on Wednesday due to a Ukrainian drone strike.

On Friday, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon.

Why the Azerbaijan plane crash could cause Putin problems

Earlier, Azerbaijan Airlines has blamed 'external interference' for the plane crash that killed 38 people on Christmas Day.

The plane was on route from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia, and was rerouted due to heavy fog before crashing near Aktau airport in Kazakhstan.

Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before crashing into the ground in a fireball.

Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings, and the rest of the plane lying upside down in the grass.

However, new reports claim that Russia denied the plane an emergency landing, despite it suffering critical damage and the pilot’s repeated pleas, at three different airports.

The Azeri Times also claims that Russia then tampered with the plane’s GPS system, forcing the pilot to divert the plane over the Caspian Sea.

The outlet says this was a deliberate attempt to make the plane crash in water to conceal any evidence of an attack.

Earlier, aviation analysts said images from the crash site point to damage from an air defence system, while multiple sources have told the Reuters news agency the same.

Former pilot Terry Tozer told LBC: "It's looking probably 90% sure it was hit by a missile.

"The close-up shots of the tail section that the people scrambled out of is peppered with holes, it looks very much like shrapnel and that fits completely with (video footage of the crash), this was an aircraft where the crew were quite obviously struggling to control it.

"Close-ups show a lot of their normal landing aids were not being used which backs up the idea of complete hydraulic failure with loss of control so I think the pilots did a pretty remarkable job to get it where they did."

If this evidence is confirmed, it would be the second time in a decade that Russia shot down a commercial airplane, after the MH17 crash in Ukraine in 2014.