Tue Dec 31 02:01:16 UTC 2024: ## Azerbaijan Demands Russia Account for Downed Airliner
**Baku, Azerbaijan –** Azerbaijan is demanding that Russia take full responsibility for the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane on December 25th, which killed 38 of the 67 people on board. The Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan after reportedly being struck by Russian air defenses near Grozny airport in southern Russia.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a strong condemnation of Moscow, a close partner, accusing Russia of attempting to cover up the incident and offering alternative explanations that blamed a Ukrainian drone attack. While Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences and acknowledged air defense systems were active at the time, Russia has yet to formally confirm its involvement.
Russia has opened a criminal investigation, stating that it is taking measures to identify and prosecute those responsible. However, they have not explicitly stated that their air defenses caused the crash.
Survivors reported hearing explosions before the plane, which diverted over 400 kilometers to crash-land in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has sent the plane’s black boxes to Brazil for analysis. The incident has prompted a day of mourning in Azerbaijan, and raised serious questions about the transparency of the ongoing investigation.
First Piper 