Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia of executing an “absurd” cover-up after its air defenses allegedly “shot down” a passenger plane last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the “tragic incident” this weekend, but the Kremlin has not formally stated that Russian air defenses shot down the plane. At least 38 people were killed in the incident.
“Our plane was shot down by accident,” Aliyev told state television on Sunday. “Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia.”
“We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter,” he added.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON ‘EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE’ AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS
A Kremlin statement said the incident occurred after Russian air defenses engaged with Ukrainian attack drones, but did not outright state that Russian forces had shot down the plane.
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Aliyev is a close ally with Putin’s regime, and the pair held a phone call regarding the incident on Sunday. Neither party has released details of their conversation.
Crew members and survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190-passenger jet say they heard at least one loud bang before the aircraft crashed on Christmas day.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON ‘EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE’ AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS
Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers aboard Flight J2-8243, told Reuters from the hospital that he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing a bang.
“After the bang… I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Rakhimov told the outlet. “It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way. It was as if it was drunk – not the same plane anymore.”
Surviving passenger Vafa Shabanova said that there were “two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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