"We know what happened and we have the evidence to prove it. Moreover, Russian officials certainly know what happened. Unfortunately, we cannot understand why Russia has chosen to remain silent for the past 7 months," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on 19/7, referring to the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane in December 2024.
Azerbaijani officials believe Russian air defenses accidentally hit the plane carrying 67 people as it entered Chechen airspace during a Ukrainian drone strike.
The aircraft was diverted and crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. The remaining 29 survived thanks to the last-minute efforts of the two pilots.
Russian President Vladimir Putin later apologized and offered condolences to President Aliyev, but only called the crash a "tragic incident" without mentioning that the plane was mistakenly shot down by Russian air defenses.
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The crash site of the AZAL plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan on 25/12/2024. Photo: AFP |
The crash site of the AZAL plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan on 25/12/2024. Photo: AFP
President Aliyev said Moscow needs to take responsibility, prosecute those responsible, and compensate the victims' families and AZAL.
"These are standard requirements, fully within the framework of international law and good neighborly relations. The question is why they are not acting like a responsible neighbor," he said.
The Azerbaijani leader asserted that if the reverse had happened, Baku would have immediately acted responsibly. He said the "silence and indifference in this matter is wrong" and could even be seen as threatening a neighbor.
Aliyev emphasized that Azerbaijan is ready to "use all international legal mechanisms" to resolve the matter if Russia does not accept responsibility and offer compensation. He also declared Baku "will patiently wait for justice to be served, however long it takes".
Russian officials have not commented on the information.
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport released a preliminary report on the AZAL crash in February, noting the plane had suffered external impact and was severely damaged, including the vertical stabilizer, hydraulic system, and horizontal stabilizer, but did not specify a cause.
The report, accompanied by photos, showed multiple holes in the left side of the aircraft's tail, along with debris described as "foreign metal objects" recovered from the left tail and hydraulic system. Azerbaijani officials claim investigators recovered a fragment of a Pantsir-S air defense missile from the wreckage and sent it to international experts for analysis.
Thanh Danh (Reuters, AZ News, Zamin)
