An Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed, killing 38 people, was damaged while over Russia “due to shooting from the ground”, the country’s president has said.
President Ilham Aliyev said he believed that the plane was not shot down intentionally.
However, he said some circles in Russia wanted to cover up the truth about the nature of the crash.
In an interview with Azerbaijani TV the president said: “The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control.
“We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control. This was the first impact on the plane. At the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged.”
“The fact that the fuselage is riddled with holes indicates that the theory of the plane hitting a flock of birds, which was brought up by someone, is completely removed from the agenda.”
He added: “Unfortunately, however, some circles in Russia preferred to put forward this theory. Another regrettable and surprising moment for us was that official Russian agencies put forward theories about the explosion of some gas cylinder on board the plane.
“In other words, this clearly showed that the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue, which, of course, is unbecoming of anyone.
“Of course, our plane was hit by accident. Of course, there can be no talk of a deliberate act of terror here. Therefore, admitting the guilt, apologising in a timely manner to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about this – all these were measures and steps that should have been taken.
“Unfortunately, for the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except for some absurd theories.”
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Source : Sky News
