Azerbaijan's Prez says crashed jetliner was shot down by Russia unintentionally

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia albeit unintentionally and criticised Moscow for trying to hush up the issue for daysWe 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 he told Azerbaijani state televisionAliyev said that the airliner which crashed Wednesday in Kazakhstan was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare Aliyev 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 officialsUnfortunately for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except delirious versions he saidThe crash killed 38 of 67 people on board The Kremlin said that 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 strikeAliyev said Azerbaijan made three demands to Russia in connection with the crashFirst the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan Second it must admit its guilt Third punish the guilty bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state the injured passengers and crew members he saidAliyev noted that the first demand was already fulfilled when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to him on Saturday Putin called the crash a tragic incident though stopped short of acknowledging Moscows responsibilityHe said that an investigation into the crash was ongoing and that the final version of events will be known after the black boxes are openedThe president noted that Azerbaijan was always in favour of a group of international experts investigating the crash and had categorically refused Russias suggestion that the Interstate Aviation Committee which oversees civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States investigate itIt is no secret that this organization consists mostly of Russian officials and is headed by Russian citizens The factors of objectivity could not be fully ensured here Aliyev saidKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that Putin had spoken to Aliyev over the phone again but did not provide details of the conversationThe Kremlin also said a joint investigation by Russia Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan was underway at the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan The plane was flying from Azerbaijans capital Baku to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan hundreds of kilometers miles across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination and crashed while making an attempt to landPassengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over GroznyDmitry Yadrov head of Russias civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog Ukrainian drones were targeting the city prompting authorities to close the area to air trafficThe crash is the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surfacetoair missile killing all 298 people aboard as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscowbacked separatists in 2014Russia has denied responsibility but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a proRussia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defence system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military baseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever