Putin said the plane was attempting to land in Grozny while Ukrainian drones attacked the region. “Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” he added.
The Azerbaijani president added that ‘some groups’ in Russia had attempted to cover up the true nature of the plane crash by claiming it was caused by a flock of birds or an explosion of the plane’s gas cylinder.
“In other words, this clearly shows that the Russian side wants to cover up this issue,” Aliyev said.
He added that the incident was “obviously” accidental. “We cannot talk about deliberate acts of terrorism here. Therefore, admitting guilt, making a timely apology to Azerbaijan, a supposedly friendly country, and informing the public about this – all these were steps and actions that had to be taken,” Aliyev said.
“Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia other than a few wild theories,” he said.
The civilian airliner was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechen Republic on Wednesday. After passengers reported hearing an explosion, the plane was diverted hundreds of kilometers from its route and crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. There were 29 survivors.
