Azerbaijan’s president claims Russia shot down a plane and accuses Moscow of a cover-up

Aliyev noted that the first request was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin he apologized his Saturday. Putin called the crash a “tragic incident,” although he did not acknowledge Moscow’s responsibility.

He said an investigation into the accident was ongoing and that “the final version (of events) will be known after the opening of the black boxes”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that Putin had again spoken with Aliyev by phone, but did not provide details of the conversation.

The Kremlin also said a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan was underway at the crash site near the Kazakh city of Aktau. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny when it veered toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) over the Caspian Sea from its destination, and crashed while trying to land.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it circled over Grozny.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s Rosaviatsia civil aviation authority, said on Friday that as the plane prepared to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones targeted the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

The crash is the second fatal civil aviation accident linked to the fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people on board, as it flew over eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian for their role in shooting down the plane carrying an air defense system brought to Ukraine from a Russian military base.