Azerbaijan’s President says crashed plane was shot at from Russia

BAKU, Azerbaijan – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Dec 29 that a passenger plane that crashed last week, killing 38 people, was damaged by shooting from the ground in Russia and that some in Russia lied about the cause of the disaster.

President Vladimir Putin on Dec 28

apologised to Mr Aliyev

for the “tragic incident” in Russian airspace on Dec 25 involving the plane after Russian air defences engaged Ukrainian attack drones.

A Kremlin statement did not say Russia shot down the plane, only noting a criminal case has been opened.

“Our plane was shot down by accident,” Mr Aliyev told state television on Dec 29, adding that the plane came under some sort of electronic jamming and was shot at while it was approaching the southern Russian city of Grozny.

“Unfortunately, in the first three days, we heard only absurd versions from Russia,” he said, citing statements in Russia that attributed the crash to birds or the explosion of some sort of gas cylinder.

“We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter,” added Mr Aliyev, who has close ties to Russia and was educated at one of Moscow’s top universities.

The Azerbaijani President said he wanted Russia to accept it was guilty of downing the plane and punish those responsible for fatally damaging the aircraft.

Mr Putin and Mr Aliyev held another telephone call on Dec 29, the Kremlin said. It gave no details, but on Dec 28, it said that both civilian and military specialists were being questioned about what took place.

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243

crashed on Dec 25

in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were attacking several cities.

The extremely rare publicised apology from Mr Putin on Dec 28 is the closest Moscow has come to accepting some blame for the disaster.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster said on Dec 26 that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot it down.

Burials

Earlier on Dec 29, Azerbaijan

paid tribute to the pilots and passengers of the plane.

Captain Igor Kshnyakin and co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov, both ethnic Russians with Azerbaijan citizenship, and Ms Hokuma Aliyeva, a flight attendant, were given full honours at a ceremony at the Alley of Honour in central Baku attended by Mr Aliyev and his wife Mehriban.

The pilots have been lauded in Azerbaijan for landing in a way that allowed 29 people to survive but led to their own deaths.

“The pilots were experienced and knew they would not survive this crash landing,” Mr Aliyev said, praising them for sacrificing themselves by putting the nose down first in an attempt to save some of the passengers.

“In order to save the passengers, they acted with great heroism and, as a result of this, there were survivors,” he added.

The Embraer passenger jet flew from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s southern Chechnya region, before veering off hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.

After the incident over Russian airspace, the pilots battled to control the plane, desperately trying to find a landing spot, Azerbaijan’s presidential office said.

With holes in the fuselage, some crew injured, passengers praying for their lives in a depressurised cabin and the plane spiralling out of control, the pilots flew across the Caspian Sea towards their death in a crash landing.

“Only through the courage and professionalism of the pilots was an emergency landing successfully carried out,” Azerbaijan’s presidential office said.

The Alley of Honour is Azerbaijan’s most sacred modern burial ground – where prominent politicians, poets and scientists are laid to rest, including Mr Heydar Aliyev, the late father of the current president.

Captain Kshnyakin’s daughter, Ms Anastasia Kshnyakina, said her father was a dedicated pilot who took his responsibilities to his passengers extremely seriously.

“My father always said: ‘When I take off, I am responsible not only for my life but also for the lives of all passengers and crew members,’” Ms Kshnyakina said.

“With his last flight, he proved what a true hero should be.” REUTERS