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The leader of Azerbaijan criticized the Russian response to the crash of a passenger jet that Azerbaijani officials said had most likely been hit by Russian air defenses.
Dec. 29, 2024, 9:57 a.m. ET
The leader of Azerbaijan directly blamed Russia on Sunday for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet last week, calling on Moscow to accept responsibility and offer compensation to victims.
President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijan’s national broadcaster that a vague apology issued by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a day earlier would not suffice to preserve friendly relations between the two former Soviet states.
The Embraer 190 airliner was traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny in southern Russia on Wednesday, but was diverted from its path after encountering interference with its navigation systems and impact with external objects, according to Azerbaijan’s government. The plane crashed in Kazakhstan soon after, resulting in the deaths of 38 of the 67 people on board, more than half of them Azerbaijani citizens.
Azerbaijani and U.S. officials, as well as international aviation experts, had said they believed that the plane was most likely shot down by a Russian air defense missile. Moscow, however, has not admitted responsibility.
Mr. Aliyev’s comments on Sunday offered the most direct rebuke yet of Kremlin’s position on the crash.
“We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia,” Mr. Aliyev said in the interview, according to a summary published in English by Azerbaijan’s state news agency. “First, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, it must acknowledge its guilt. Third, those responsible must be punished.”
