Azerbaijan’s president says crashed aircraft was shot at from Russia

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated on Sunday {that a} passenger aircraft that crashed final week, killing 38 folks, had been broken by unintentional capturing from the bottom in Russia, including that some in Russia had lied about the reason for the catastrophe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Aliyev for Wednesday’s “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving Azerbaijan Airways Flight J2-8243 after Russian air defenses engaged Ukrainian assault drones.

A Kremlin assertion didn’t say Russia had shot down the aircraft, solely noting a prison case had been opened.

“Our aircraft was shot down by chance,” Aliyev stated on state tv on Sunday, including that the aircraft had come underneath some type of digital jamming and had then been shot at whereas it was approaching the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny.

The pilots, who died within the crash, have been lauded in Azerbaijan for a touchdown that allowed 29 folks to outlive.

“Sadly, within the first three days we heard solely absurd variations from Russia,” Aliyev stated, citing statements in Russia that attributed the crash to chicken strike or the explosion of some type of gasoline cylinder.

“We witnessed clear makes an attempt to cowl up the matter,” stated the Azerbaijani chief, who has shut ties to Russia and was educated at certainly one of Moscow’s high universities.

Aliyev stated he wished Russia to simply accept it was responsible of downing the aircraft and to punish these accountable.

Putin and Aliyev held one other phone name on Sunday, the Kremlin stated. It gave no particulars however on Saturday it stated that each civilian and navy specialists have been being questioned about what had taken place.

The chief of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, on a cellphone name assured Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor Normal that Moscow had assigned the investigation to probably the most skilled specialists and that actions have been being taken to ascertain the trigger and circumstances of the incident.

The aircraft crashed on Wednesday close to town of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia the place Ukrainian drones have been attacking a number of cities on the time, based on the Kremlin.

The extraordinarily uncommon publicised apology from Putin on Saturday is the closest Moscow has come to accepting some blame for the catastrophe.

4 sources with data of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the catastrophe advised Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defenses had mistakenly shot it down.

Azerbaijan on Sunday paid tribute to the pilots and passengers of the aircraft.

Captain Igor Kshnyakin and co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov, each ethnic Russians with Azerbaijan citizenship, and Hokuma Aliyeva, a flight attendant, got full honours at a ceremony on the Alley of Honour in central Baku attended by Aliyev and his spouse, Mehriban.

“The pilots have been skilled and knew they might not survive this crash touchdown,” Aliyev stated, praising them for sacrificing themselves.

“With the intention to save the passengers, they acted with nice heroism and because of this, there have been survivors,” he stated.

Aliyev awarded the crew posthumously with the titles of Nationwide Hero of Azerbaijan.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev additionally awarded residents who helped rescue the survivors, together with emergency staff, medics, police and workers on the airport and an area energy firm.

The Embraer E190 passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern Chechnya area, earlier than veering off a whole bunch of miles throughout the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijan’s presidential workplace stated the pilots had battled to regulate the aircraft — desperately looking for a spot to land.

With holes within the fuselage, some crew injured, and a de-pressurised cabin, the pilots managed to fly throughout the Caspian Sea earlier than crash touchdown.

The Alley of Honour is Azerbaijan’s most sacred trendy burial floor — the place distinguished politicians, poets and scientists are laid to relaxation, together with Heydar Aliyev, father of the present president.

Captain Kshnyakin’s daughter, Anastasia Kshnyakina, stated her father was a devoted pilot who took his duties to his passengers extraordinarily critically.

“My father at all times stated: once I take off, I’m accountable not just for my life, but additionally for the lives of all passengers and crew members,” Kshnyakina stated.

“Along with his final flight, he proved what a real hero ought to be.”