The President of Azerbaijan claimed that the plane crash in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was targeted by "fire" from Russian territory, with evidence suggesting it could have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.
38 people were killed when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised for the fact that the "tragic incident" occurred in Russian airspace but did not admit responsibility for any external interference.
On Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the crash was the result of "fire" from Russian territory.
"The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory […] the tail of the plane was severely damaged by ground fire," he said in televised interview. He also mentioned that the plane was made "uncontrollable" by military electronic jamming.
Aliyev further accused Russia of attempting to conceal these facts and demanded a public apology from Moscow.
He argued that the various accounts provided by Russia following the crash "clearly show that the Russian side intended to suppress the incident."
"Admitting its guilt, offering timely apologies to Azerbaijan, considered a friendly country, and informing the public about it, are all measures that should have been taken," he stated.
