Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of a misleading cover-up following the alleged downing of a passenger plane by Russian air defenses last week.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin offered an apology for the tragic incident, the Kremlin hasn’t officially confirmed that its air defenses were responsible. The incident resulted in at least 38 fatalities.
“Our aircraft was mistakenly shot down,” Aliyev stated on Sunday during a state television address. “Regrettably, Russia’s initial explanations over the first three days were unconvincing.”
He further alleged, “We observed clear attempts to conceal the truth.”
A Kremlin statement attributed the incident to Russian air defenses engaging Ukrainian attack drones, but stopped short of explicitly acknowledging the plane’s destruction by Russian forces.
Aliyev, a close Putin ally, spoke with the Russian president by phone on Sunday. Details of their conversation remain undisclosed.
Crew members and survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 reported hearing a loud bang before the plane crashed on Christmas Day.
Subhonkul Rakhimov, a passenger on Flight J2-8243, recounted to Reuters from his hospital bed that he began praying after hearing a loud noise.
“Following the bang… I feared the plane would break apart,” Rakhimov stated. “It was clear the plane had been damaged. It was as if it had become unstable – completely different to how it had been before.”
Fellow survivor Vafa Shabanova described “two explosions in the sky,” followed by the plane’s crash an hour and a half later.
Reuters contributed to this report.