Azerbaijan’s president says crashed plane was shot down in Kazakhstan by Russia

Azerbaijan’s president has said the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally.

“We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done,” Ilham Aliyev told Azerbaijani state television.

Mr Aliyev said the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare.

He accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days, saying he was “upset and surprised” by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.

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'Delirious versions'

“Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except delirious versions,” he said.

The crash near Aktau airport on Wednesday December 25 killed 38 of the 67 people on board.

The Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Mr Aliyev on Saturday for what he called a “tragic incident” but stopped short of acknowledging Moscow’s responsibility.

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Joint investigation

The Kremlin also said a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan has begun at the crash site.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned towards Kazakhstan, hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land.