Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that a passenger plane that crashed last week, killing 38 people, had been damaged by shooting from the ground in Russia, and has called for Moscow to admit "guilt" in the disaster.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Mr Aliyev for Wednesday's "tragic incident" in Russian airspace involving the plane after Russian air defences engaged Ukrainian attack drones.
A Kremlin statement did not say Russia had shot down the plane, only noting a criminal case had been opened.
"Our plane was shot down by accident," Mr Aliyev told state television on Sunday, adding that the plane had come under some sort of electronic jamming and had then been shot at while it was approaching the southern Russian city of Grozny.
"Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia," Mr Aliyev said, citing statements in Russia that attributed the crash to birds or the explosion of some sort of gas cylinder.
"We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter," said the Azerbaijani leader, who has close ties to Russia and was educated at one of Moscow's top universities.
Mr Aliyev said he wanted Russia to accept it was guilty of downing the plane and punish those responsible for fatally damaging the aircraft.
"Of course, there can be no talk of a deliberate act of terror here," Mr Aliyev said.
"Therefore, admitting the guilt, apologising in a timely manner to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about this — all these were measures and steps that should have been taken."
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were attacking several cities.
The extremely rare publicised apology from Mr Putin on Saturday is the closest Moscow has come to accepting some blame for the disaster.
Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot it down.
Reuters
