Putin says Russian air defences downed Azerbaijani passenger jet last year
“The two missiles launched did not directly hit the plane, if they had they would have crashed at the scene, but they exploded a few meters away, about 10 meters away, perhaps as a self-destruct measure,” Putin said.
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“So the damage was most likely caused by missile debris, not warheads. That’s why the pilot mistook it for a collision with a flock of birds. He reported this to Russian air traffic controllers, and all of this was recorded in the so-called ‘black boxes’.”
The Embraer jet flew from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny in Russia’s southern Chechen Republic, where the incident occurred, and then traveled a further 450 kilometers across the Caspian Sea with severe damage. Putin warned on Thursday that fully investigating the causes of the crash “will probably take some more time.”
A preliminary report published on the Kazakh government website in February found that the plane suffered external damage and had holes in its fuselage.
Aliyev was furious about the accident and publicly criticized Moscow’s initial reactions to cover up the cause of the incident.
On Thursday, he thanked Putin for personally monitoring the progress of the investigation into the deadly incident.
Aliyev said to Putin, “I would like to express my gratitude once again for finding it necessary to emphasize this issue in our meeting.” he said.
Reuters
