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Azerbaijan reveals details of targeting its civilian aircraft over Russia
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The downing of the Azerbaijani civilian aircraft reveals the danger of Russia's indiscriminate use of anti-aircraft weapons in civil aviation areas
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev presented crucial details regarding the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft in Kazakhstan this week, which claimed the lives of 38 people.
In a televised interview broadcast by the official Azertag agency on Sunday, Aliyev disclosed that the ill-fated aircraft was hit by Russian fire, explaining "the civilian aircraft was targeted externally over Russian territory, near Grozny, and its tail was severely damaged due to ground fire."
He revealed that the plane lost control last Wednesday due to military electronic jamming systems, pointing to attempts by Russian parties to obscure the facts of the plane's downing.
Aliyev emphasized that "the final investigation results and details will become clear after examining the black boxes," adding that "the data confirms external damage to the aircraft over Russian territory, and it nearly lost control," continuing: "We also know that electronic warfare systems took our aircraft off course, this was the first targeting, and at the same time, the aircraft's tail sustained severe damage from ground fire."
The Azerbaijani president presented three demands to Moscow regarding the plane crash, calling for an apology and admission of responsibility, according to Interfax agency, in addition to demanding compensation for losses resulting from the disaster.
The Kremlin confirmed a phone call between the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents, during which they continued discussing issues related to the plane crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he described as the "tragic incident" in Russian airspace, where the Azerbaijani aircraft crashed after air defense systems were activated against Ukrainian drones.
Flight J2-8243 crashed Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after deviating from its course in southern Russia, where there were reports of Ukrainian drone attacks on multiple cities. The flight was heading from Baku to the Chechen capital Grozny.
Initial data from Azerbaijani investigations, according to four informed sources who spoke to Reuters on Thursday, indicate that Russian air defense systems shot down the plane by mistake, while passengers confirmed hearing a massive explosion outside the aircraft.
The civilian Embraer aircraft flew from the Azerbaijani capital Baku toward Grozny in southern Russia, deviated from its destination after sustaining severe damage, and flew an additional 450 kilometers across the Caspian Sea.
Levant-Agencies
