Azerbaijan's president says the plane that crashed was shot down by Russia unjustly

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, said on Sunday that the Azerbaijani plane that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, although it was not on purpose, and criticized Moscow for trying to “shut up” the issue for days.

“We can clearly say that the plane was shot down by Russia. (…) We are not saying that it was done on purpose, but it was done,” he told Azerbaijan's state television.

Aliyev said the plane, which crashed on Wednesday in Kazakhstan, was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and was “powered by electronic warfare.” Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “cover up” the issue for several days, saying “I am angry and surprised” by the versions of events presented by Russian officials.

“Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except funny translations,” he said.

The accident killed 38 of the 67 people on board. The Kremlin said air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechnya region, when the plane attempted to land, to disperse a Ukrainian drone strike.

Aliyev said that Azerbaijan made three demands to Russia regarding the accident.

“First of all, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, he must confess his guilt. “Thirdly, punish the culprits, bring them to criminal charges and pay compensation to the government of Azerbaijan, injured passengers and crew members,” he said.

Aliyev noted that the first demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to him on Saturday. Putin called the crash a “tragic incident” although he stopped short of accepting Moscow's responsibility.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that Putin also spoke with Aliyev by phone, but did not provide details of the conversation.

The Kremlin also said a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan had begun at the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to Grozny when it turned towards Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (km) across the Caspian Sea from its destination, and crashed while trying to land.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard a loud noise from the plane as it circled over Grozny.

Dmitry Yadrov, the head of the aviation authority in Russia, Rosaviatsia, said on Friday as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny there was a deep fog, Ukrainian drones were heading towards the city, which caused the authorities to close the area to the planes.

The crash is the second fatal war-related civil aviation accident in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed by a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people on board, while flying over eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian for their role in downing a plane with an air defense system delivered to Ukraine from a Russian military base.

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Associated Press writer Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.