Egypt Daily News – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the Azerbaijani Airlines plane that crashed this week in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its 68 passengers, was fired upon from Russia.
Aliyev said in a television interview reported by the official AZERTAC news agency: “What happened is that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was hit from outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and the tail of the plane was severely damaged from the land attack.”
He also pointed out that the plane “went out of control” due to military electronic jamming means.
“As for AZAL flights, AZAL has indefinitely suspended its flights to seven Russian cities,” President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijan Television, APA reports.
“At the same time, we have also suspended flights of Russian airlines from three Russian cities to Azerbaijan. Our air connection with a total of 10 cities has now been suspended, and let me repeat that, first of all, security issues are at the forefront here.
We have always considered the safety of our passengers a priority, and this situation has been declared. Whatever we do, we do it openly. Let me repeat, this decision has been made. When will these flights be resumed, especially to the city of Grozny? Most likely, they will not. Life will tell, and the security of Russian airspace will certainly be taken into account,” the President noted.
