Azerbaijan president claims plane that crashed was shot at from Russian soil

He said that some people were trying to hush up the truth about the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.

Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev claimed on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, was damaged by shots fired from Russian soil, reported Reuters citing Azerbaijan's state television.

Emergency specialists working at the crash site of the plane crash(HT_PRINT)

Aliyev expressed his disappointment that "some circles" in Russia had attempted to conceal the truth behind the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, and said that false narratives were being spread.

“Admitting 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,” he said, according to AFP.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky took to social media platform X to offer condolences and demand “clear explanations” from Russia's president Vladimir Putin.

Reason for the crash

On Saturday, Putin offered an apology to Aliyev for the "tragic incident" that took place over Russian airspace, in which the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defences reportedly targeted Ukrainian drones.

In an official statement cited by AFP, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was hit by “external physical, technical” interference over Russia.

Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, leading to the death of 38 people out of the 67 passengers.

Initially, it was assumed that the airplane lost control due to a bird strike or dense fog.

The White House on Friday stated that it had received initial indications suggesting the airliner may have been downed by Russian air defense systems and added that it had offered assistance in the investigation into the crash. The UK has also asked for an independent probe into the matter.