Ilham Aliyev: "We demand justice and punishment for the guilty"

The President of Azerbaijan met with relatives of the victims of the plane crash near Aktau. He told them that he places the blame on the Russian Federation and expects “full transparency and human behavior” from it.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demands punishment for those responsible for the AZAL plane crash near Aktau. He stated this at a meeting with relatives of the dead and surviving crew members. “I can say with confidence that the blame for the fact that Azerbaijani citizens died in this disaster lies with the representatives of the Russian Federation. And we demand justice, we demand punishment for the perpetrators, we demand full transparency and human behavior,” AZERTAC Agency quotes Aliyev. The President of Azerbaijan recalled that now in Brazil, the country that produced the crashed plane, the process of deciphering the black boxes is underway in order to completely restore the “picture of the tragedy.” “This, naturally, will be an important moment in the full investigation of this tragedy and the punishment of those responsible for it,” Aliyev noted. The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed on December 25. There were 67 people on board, including 5 crew members; 38 died, 29 survived. Speaking on state television three years after the tragedy, President Aliyev said that “the plane was damaged from outside on Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and practically lost control.” Our channel's sources in the Azerbaijani government reported at the same time that the airliner was hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile. Apparently, we are talking about air defense, since at the time of the estimated landing of the airliner in Grozny, an attack by Ukrainian drones was being repelled over the city. It is also reported that the plane requested landing at Russian airports, but was sent across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan. The Kremlin suggested “not making hypotheses” and waiting for the results of the investigation. Initially, Moscow admitted other reasons for the plane crash - a collision with a flock of birds and an explosion of a cylinder on board. The President of Azerbaijan expressed disappointment with what he called “delusional versions,” calling on Russia to apologize, punish those involved and pay compensation. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Aliyev twice at the end of December. He, as stated on the Kremlin website, apologized due to the fact that the “tragic incident” occurred in Russian airspace.