Azerbaijan demands that Russia punish those responsible for the plane incident and provide compensation. According to Azerbaijani mass media, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated this, adding that on December 27, these demands were officially transferred to the Russian side.
He noted that the first demand was for Russia to apologize to Azerbaijan for the plane crash, which was done. Basically, Aliyev is referring to the telephone conversation with the head of the Russian Federation, during which Vladimir Putin apologized.
In addition, Aliyev demands to punish the guilty, to compensate the Azerbaijani state and the injured passengers and crew members.
He also stated that the downed Azeri civilian plane was damaged from the outside as a result of ground fire in Russia and practically lost control.
- In yesterday’s conversation with the President of Russia, Ilham Aliyev stated that the plane, being in the airspace of Russia, was subjected to external physical and technical influence, and was sent to the city of Aktau.
- The Russian president apologized, actually admitting that Russian air defense systems were operating in the area during the tragic incident.
- Commenting on the disaster, the White House announced that the United States had seen evidence indicating the possibility of a strike by Russian air defense systems. “Azerbaijan Airlines”, which operates the aircraft, claimed that according to preliminary data, the accident occurred due to “physical and technical external influence”. A number of companies, including “Azerbaijan Airlines”, announced that they were temporarily suspending flights to Russian cities.