Plane crash in Kazakhstan
Plane crash in Kazakhstan
Plane crash in Kazakhstan
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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.
By Anatoly Kurmanaev
Reporting from Berlin
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 Azerbaijani national television that the vague apologies made the day before by Russian President Vladimir V. Putins would not be enough to maintain friendly relations between the two former Soviet states.
The Embraer 190 plane was traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, in southern Russia, on Wednesday, but deviated from its trajectory after encountering interference with its navigation systems and impact with external objects, according to the Azerbaijani government. The plane crashed shortly afterwards in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the other 67 people on board, most of whom were Azerbaijani citizens.
Azerbaijani and American officials, as well as foreign aviation experts, said they believed the maximum of the aircraft was probably shot down via a Russian air defense missile. Moscow, however, has not claimed responsibility.
Aliyev’s comments on Sunday are the most direct rebuke yet of the Kremlin’s position on the accident.
“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.”
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