Azerbaijani president says crashed airplane was shot down from Russia By Reuters

By Nailia Bagirova and Anton Kolodyazhnyy

BAKU/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated on Sunday {that a} passenger airplane that crashed final week, killing 38 folks, was broken by unintentional firing from the bottom in Russia, including that some in Russia had lied about the reason for the accident. the catastrophe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Aliyev for Wednesday’s “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving Azerbaijan Airways flight J2-8243 after Russian air defenses engaged assault drones Ukrainians.

A Kremlin assertion didn’t specify that Russia had shot down the airplane, noting solely that felony proceedings had been opened.

“Our airplane was shot down by chance,” Aliyev informed state tv on Sunday, including that the airplane fell sufferer to some type of digital jamming and was then focused because it approached town of Grozny, in southern Russia.

The pilots, who died within the accident, have been congratulated in Azerbaijan for his or her touchdown which allowed 29 folks to outlive.

“Sadly, within the first three days we heard solely absurd variations from Russia,” Aliyev stated, citing Russian statements attributing the accident to a chicken strike or the explosion of a form of fuel bottle.

“We’ve witnessed clear makes an attempt to cowl up the matter,” stated the Azerbaijani chief, who has shut ties to Russia and was educated at one in every of Moscow’s prime universities.

Aliyev stated he wished Russia to confess it was responsible of downing the airplane and punish these accountable.

Putin and Aliyev had one other phone dialog on Sunday, the Kremlin stated. He gave no particulars, however stated Saturday that civilian and navy specialists have been being questioned about what occurred.

The pinnacle of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, assured in a phone name to the Prosecutor Basic of Azerbaijan that Moscow had entrusted the investigation to probably the most skilled consultants and that measures have been being taken to ascertain the trigger and the circumstances of the incident.

The airplane crashed Wednesday close to the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia the place Ukrainian drones have been attacking a number of cities on the time, based on the Kremlin.

The extraordinarily uncommon apology made public by Putin on Saturday is the closest Moscow has come to accepting some accountability for the catastrophe.

4 sources with information of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the catastrophe informed Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defenses shot it down by mistake.

FUNERALS

Azerbaijan on Sunday paid tribute to the pilots and passengers of the airplane.

Captain Igor Kshnyakin and co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov, each of Russian origin and Azerbaijani residents, in addition to Hokuma Aliyeva, flight attendant, obtained full honors throughout a ceremony organized within the Alley of Honor of the middle of Baku, within the presence of Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban.

“The pilots have been skilled and knew they might not survive this crash touchdown,” Aliyev stated, praising them for sacrificing themselves.

“So as to save the passengers, they acted with nice heroism and there have been survivors,” he stated.

Aliyev posthumously awarded the crew the titles of Nationwide Heroes of Azerbaijan.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev additionally rewarded residents who helped rescue survivors, together with rescuers, medical doctors, police and staff of the airport and a neighborhood electrical energy firm.

The Embraer E190 jetliner had flown from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny in Russia’s southern Chechnya area earlier than touring lots of of kilometers throughout the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijan’s presidential workplace stated the pilots struggled to regulate the airplane, desperately looking for a spot to land.

With holes within the fuselage, injured crew members and a depressurized cabin, the pilots managed to fly over the Caspian Sea earlier than crashing.

The Alley of Honor is Azerbaijan’s most sacred trendy cemetery – house to distinguished politicians, poets and scientists, together with Heydar Aliyev, father of the present president.

Captain Kshnyakina’s daughter, Anastasia Kshnyakina, stated her father was a devoted pilot who took his tasks to his passengers very critically.

“My father at all times stated: after I take off, I’m accountable not just for my life, but in addition for the lives of all passengers and crew members,” Kshnyakina stated.

“Together with his last flight, he proved what a real hero needs to be.”