The Azerbaijani presidential administration has refused to accept assistance from the Chechen authorities after the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane en route to Grozny, a source told Day.Az. “Azerbaijan does not need any assistance. Neither the state nor the citizens will accept such assistance. Azerbaijan demands recognition of the fact [that the plane was shot down], an apology and payment of appropriate compensation,” the source told the publication.
The day before, on December 26, the Chairman of the Chechen Government, Hasan Khakimov, said that, on the instructions of the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, all the families of those killed and injured in the crash will be provided with financial and “all other assistance they need.” Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan reported that its employees had arrived in Grozny to conduct an investigation into the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane together with their Russian colleagues. The prosecutors are acting in accordance with the instructions and directions of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and are taking the necessary measures to establish the causes of the plane crash, the department emphasized. At the same time, the airline’s employees, during the preliminary investigation, came to the conclusion that the crashed plane was subjected to “external physical and technical impact.” An Embraer 190 aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed on the morning of December 25 near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board, including five crew members. Of these, 38 died and 29 survived. Reuters and Euronews sources in the Azerbaijani government said that the cause of the crash was a Russian Pantsir missile. According to them, it was fired at the plane during “drone air activity” over Grozny. The missile exploded near the plane, damaging its skin. According to Euronews’ sources, the crew of the plane requested an emergency landing at one of the nearest Russian airports, but they were not allowed to land. After that, it flew across the Caspian Sea in the direction of Aktau. Rosaviatsiya confirmed that at the time of the plane’s landing, the situation in the Grozny airport area was very difficult due to Ukrainian drones. In this regard, the “Carpet” regime was introduced at the airport, which provides for the immediate departure of all aircraft from the specified area, noted the head of Rosaviatsiya Dmitry Yadrov. According to him, the plane’s commander was offered other Russian airports for landing, but he decided to proceed to Aktau airport.
The Azerbaijani parliament publicly demanded that Russia apologize in connection with the plane crash. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin is aware of these statements, but will not make any comments on the tragedy until the official investigation is completed. “We do not consider ourselves entitled to give any assessments and will not do so,” Peskov concluded.