30 Dec 2024, Ozi News Desk, (Sumit Joshi) : On Monday, Azerbaijan’s general prosecutor confirmed that Russia had pledged to take “intensive measures” to identify the culprits and bring them to justice for the December 25 Azerbaijan Airlines crash, reported AFP.
The Russian investigative committee assured Azerbaijan they would take swift action to identify those responsible. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded that Russia accept responsibility for accidentally downing the plane, which crash-landed in Kazakhstan and killed 38 of the 67 passengers aboard.
Russian authorities have not confirmed whether their air-defense missiles hit the plane, causing the disaster. However, Putin has apologized to Aliyev for the incident that took place in Russian airspace.
On Sunday, Aliyev accused Russian officials of trying to obscure the cause of the crash by presenting alternate theories to “conceal the matter.”
“We can state with certainty that the plane was shot down by Russia. We’re not saying it was intentional, but it was done,” Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijani state television, according to AFP.
Russian officials conducting an investigation stated that the area where the plane flew was covered in dense fog, and Ukrainian drones reportedly triggered Russian air-defense systems, leading to the strike.
However, Putin has not acknowledged that Russia’s defense systems may have accidentally shot down the plane.
Aliyev has put forward three demands: an official apology, acknowledgment of responsibility, punishment for those responsible, and compensation for the injured passengers involved in the crash.
