Azerbaijan's president says plane that crashed was shot from Russia

---

#1

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan this week killing 38 people, was damaged due to a shooting from the ground in Russia, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday. He also accused Moscow of having tried to hide the cause of a deadly jet crash and called for Russia to admit "guilt" in the disaster.


President Aliyev said he regretted that "some circles" in Russia had tried to hush up the truth about the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines planes by sowing false narratives about the causes of the crash, the Azerbaijan state television reported.


Baku regretted that Moscow "put forward theories" that "clearly showed the Russian side wanted to cover" up the issue, he said.


"Admitting 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," President Aliyev added.


This came after Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Saturday "apologised" to Aliyev for what the Kremlin called a "tragic incident" over Russia in which the plane crashed after Russian air defences were fired against Ukrainian drones.


Earlier, Azerbaijan's transport minister said the plane that crashed on December 25 was subjected to "external interference" and damaged inside and out, as it tried to land in Russia's southern republic of Chechnya.


"All [the survivors] without exception stated they heard three blast sounds when the aircraft was above Grozny," said Rashad Nabiyev.


The plane is thought to have come under fire from Russian air defence systems before being diverted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, where it crashed with the loss of 38 lives.