Crashed Azerbaijan plane damaged by fire from Russia, Azerbaijani president says
LONDON -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday "was damaged from outside on Russian territory."
The investigation into the deadly Christmas Day crash is ongoing. The Embraer 190 aircraft was traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, but crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.
On Sunday, Aliyev told state television channel AzTV that while the plane's flight recorder data is still being analyzed, a picture of the incident is emerging.
"The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from outside on Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and practically lost control," he said, citing fire from the ground for serious damage to the tail section of the aircraft and apparent shrapnel holes in its fuselage.
"We also know that our plane was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare," Aliyev added.
Survivors from the crash told ABC News that they heard and felt explosions outside the aircraft during the flight, after which the plane appeared to lose control.
Aliyev said he did not believe the damage was intentional, though he expressed regret that Russian authorities put forward alternate theories for the crash in the immediate aftermath. "This openly showed that the Russian side wants to hush up the issue and this, of course, does no one credit," he said.
Early explanations for the crash included a collision with birds and heavy fog in the area. Some Russian media organizations also suggested Ukrainian drones collided with the plane during their attack on targets in Chechnya, which was ongoing at the time.
Aliyev called on Russia to admit guilt and apologize. "Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except crazy versions," the president said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Aliyev on Saturday. According to a Kremlin readout, Putin apologized for the incident without explicitly admitting culpability.
Putin "apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured," the readout said.
"At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks," it added.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Friday that there are “early indications” that the plane could have been brought down by Russian air defense systems, but added that the investigation is ongoing.
ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic, Ines de la Cuetara, Ellie Kaufman and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
