Putin's administration refuses to comment on reports that Russians downed Azerbaijani plane
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, said that the Kremlin had seen a statement from Baku that Russia should apologise for shooting down the Azerbaijani Airlines plane but refused to comment on this information until "the investigation into the causes of the crash is completed."
Source: Russian Interfax news agency
Quote from Peskov: "Of course, we have seen [the statement of Azerbaijani MP Rasim Musabayov, who said that Russia should apologise - ed.], but I repeat once again, I have nothing to add to what I have already said."
Details: Peskov called the downing of the plane an "aviation incident" and insisted that he could not "give an assessment" until the results of the investigation were available.
Quote from Peskov: "We have our aviation authorities who can do this, and this information can only come from them."
Background:
- On 25 December, an Embraer aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines en route from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau, the administrative centre of Kazakhstan's Mangistau Oblast. According to Azerbaijan Airlines, 67 people were on board, including five crew members. Of these, 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 were Russians, six were Kazakhs, and three were Kyrgyz nationals.
- The crash killed 38 people, said Kanat Bozumbayev, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and head of the state commission leading the investigation into the causes of the crash.
- The Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation said that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
- Euronews sources indicate that the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny on 25 December was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile that exploded nearby.
- Reuters reported that the plane was shot down by the Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. "However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft," the source said.
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