LONDON — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was “damaged externally on Russian territory”.
An investigation into the deadly Christmas Day crash is ongoing. The Embraer 190 was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia, but crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.
On Sunday, Aliyev told state television channel AzTV that while data from the plane’s flight recorder is still being analyzed, a picture of the incident is emerging.
“The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian aircraft was externally damaged on Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control,” he said, referring to fire from the ground due to severe damage to the plane’s tail and apparent shrapnel. holes in its fuselage.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attends an interview at Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan on December 29, 2024.
President of Azerbaijan/via Reuters
“We also know that our plane became uncontrollable due to electronic warfare,” Aliyev added.
Survivors of the crash told ABC News they heard and felt explosions outside the plane during the flight, after which the plane appeared to lose control.
Aliyev said he did not believe the damage was intentional, although he expressed regret that Russian authorities immediately presented other theories about the crash. “This clearly showed that the Russian side wants to keep the issue quiet and this, of course, does not give credit to anyone,” he said.
Among the first explanations for the accident were a collision with birds and heavy fog in the area. Some Russian media outlets also suggested that Ukrainian drones collided with the plane during an attack on targets in Chechnya, which was underway at the time.
Aliyev has asked Russia to admit guilt and apologize. “Unfortunately, in the first three days we have heard nothing from Russia except crazy versions,” the president said.
In this photo taken from a video released by the Mangystau regional administration, part of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 is on the ground near the airport in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 26, 2024.
AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Aliyev on Saturday. According to a Kremlin reading, Putin apologized for the incident without specifically admitting fault.
Putin “apologized for the tragic incident in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery,” the readout said.
“At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” he added.
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters on Friday that there are “early indications” that the plane may have been shot down by Russian air defense systems, but added that the investigation is ongoing.
ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic, Ines de la Cuetara, Ellie Kaufman and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
