Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that responsibility for the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024, "lies with Russian representatives".
Aliyev made this statement during a meeting with crew members who survived the crash and relatives of the deceased, the press service of the Azerbaijani president reported.
Aliyev has previously said that the crash was most likely caused by Russian air defense systems as the plane attempted to land in the Chechen capital of Grozny, where it was flying from Baku. Now Aliyev is demanding punishment for those responsible for the plane crash and the deaths.
"We demand justice, we demand punishment of the guilty, we demand complete transparency," the Azerbaijani president said.
Russia has not officially spoken about the causes of the crash and its responsibility for what happened. At the same time, Russian leader Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev for the fact that the plane crash occurred in Russian airspace. Russia also admitted that at the time the Azerbaijani airliner was approaching Grozny, air defense systems were operating there.
The plane was unable to land in Grozny, so it proceeded to land at Aktau airfield. However, it lost control and crashed on approach to the Kazakh city, presumably after sustaining damage from the ground.
Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash
The plane crash occurred in Kazakhstan on the morning of December 25, 2024. An Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which was flying from the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to the city of Grozny in Russia, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau.
There were 67 people on board the plane, including five crew members. At least 38 of them died.
According to Euronews sources in the Azerbaijani government, the cause of the plane crash was a Russian surface-to-air missile. The missile was allegedly launched from flight J2-8432 during drone activity over Grozny. The missile exploded during the flight, and its fragments hit the plane.
On December 27, Azerbaijan Airlines stated that, initially, the cause of the crash was "physical and technical external influence".
On December 28, Putin apologized for the "tragic incident" with the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, but did not directly take responsibility for the disaster.
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