Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Monday chided Russia for making an attempt to keep away from accountability for the downing of an Azerbaijani airliner final month, doubling down on a uncommon confrontation with the Kremlin that has highlighted Russia’s lack of affect in a lot of the previous Soviet Union.
Assembly with the 2 surviving flight attendants and family of the crew members who died within the crash, Mr Aliyev mentioned Russian efforts “to hush up this incident” had induced “shock, remorse and justified indignation” in Azerbaijan.
The preliminary investigation of the December 25 crash that killed 38 individuals made it clear, he mentioned, that if Russian navy and civilian authorities had been correctly coordinated, “this tragedy may have been prevented.” He repeated his declare, backed up by footage from the crash web site and Western assessments, that the airplane crashed after being hit by Russian air defenses.
“I can say with confidence that the blame for the demise of Azerbaijani residents on this accident lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Mr. Aliyev mentioned. “We wish justice, we would like punishment of the responsible, we demand full transparency and dignified habits.
In a departure from protocol, Mr. Aliyev made these televised feedback in Russian, not Azerbaijani; analysts described the choice as each an indication of respect for the Russian-speaking family of the lifeless pilots and an indication that Mr Aliyev needed to be heard in Moscow.
Whereas President Vladimir V. Putin apologized to Mr. Aliyev on Dec. 28 in regards to the “tragic incident” that “occurred in Russian airspace,” he didn’t settle for Russia’s accountability for it.
After the crash, pro-government voices in Azerbaijan unleashed uncommon and withering criticism of Russia, regardless of the shut relationship between Mr. Aliyev and Mr. Putin, two authoritarian leaders who’ve more and more discovered points of contact in the confrontation with the West.
Farid Shafiev, chairman of the government-funded Heart for Worldwide Relations Evaluation in Baku, Azerbaijan, mentioned in a phone interview that Russia’s “imperial vanity” was evident in its cover-up of the circumstances of the crash.
Referring to Russia’s failure to confess guilt, Mr Shafiev mentioned: “They nonetheless look down on all these former Soviet nations.”
In current days, Russia has remained largely silent on the crash. There was no remark from the Kremlin on Monday, and Russian state media offered scant protection of Mr. Aliyev’s handle.
Mr. Shafiev mentioned Moscow’s muted response might replicate its confidence in its commanding place within the post-Soviet world. However he added that that confidence could also be misplaced, pointing to the gorgeous collapse of the pro-Russian regime in Syria final month as proof of how rapidly its fortunes can change.
“For the second they will really feel very snug that they’re nonetheless one thing of a significant energy, however over time that would change,” he mentioned.
Throughout the previous Soviet Union, Russia’s grip continues to indicate indicators of pressure. Azerbaijan’s sworn enemy, Armenia, now not sees Russia as a guarantor of its safety and seeks support from the West and Iran. In Central Asia, China is on the rise, as are the previous Soviet republics there they see Russia as weakened and distracted by its war in Ukraine.
And simply final week, one other crack appeared in Transnistria, the pro-Russian breakaway area of Moldova. The suspension from January 1 of gasoline to the area from Russia, a consequence of the battle in Ukraine, raised questions about Russia’s capability to keep up a loyal outpost on the southeastern fringe of Europe.
By comparability, Azerbaijan appeared extra optimistic for Moscow. Mr Putin made a two-day state go to in August, full with footage exhibiting him enjoyable in shirtsleeves with Mr Aliyev. The pinnacle of Russia’s international intelligence visited in September, presenting Azerbaijan as an ally in countering Western efforts to undermine “inner political stability in our nations.”
However final month’s collapse illuminated the bounds of that partnership – and prompted Mr Aliyev’s startling willingness to assault his nation’s much more highly effective neighbor to the north.
Rinse with fossil fuel revenues and brimming with confidence after defeating Armenia in a long-running battle in 2023, the autocratic Mr Aliyev, 63, used the fallout from the crash to shed any semblance of being beholden to Mr Putin.
Azerbaijan Airways Embraer 190 airplane with 67 individuals on board crashed into a ball of black smoke and orange flames on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan after failing to land at its vacation spot, the southern Russian metropolis of Grozny. Mr. Putin informed Mr. Aliyev three days later that Russian air defenses had been preventing Ukrainian drones within the space because the airplane approached, in line with a Kremlin assertion.
Mr. Aliyev mentioned on December 29 that this rationalization and Mr. Putin’s restricted apology it wouldn’t be enough. Russia “should admit its guilt,” he mentioned, and punish the responsible. In Monday’s televised assembly, Mr. Aliyev went additional, saying “there are very critical points right here that quantity to against the law.”
The airspace over Grozny was closed solely after the airplane was fired upon, Mr. Aliyev mentioned.
“If there was a risk to Russian airspace, the captain of the airplane ought to have been knowledgeable about it instantly,” Mr Aliyev mentioned.
Mr Aliyev reiterated his declare that the Moscow-based aviation authority, which usually investigates airplane crashes in a lot of the former Soviet Union, together with Azerbaijan, couldn’t be trusted to conduct a good investigation – one other gorgeous a rebuke to Mr. Putin’s authorities.
Kazakhstan agreed to ship the airplane’s black bins to Brazil, the nation the place airplane maker Embraer relies.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev informed a Kazakh newspaper in an interview revealed Friday that sending the black bins to Brazil was the one means “to make sure a good and neutral investigation.”
Kazakhstan is one other former Soviet republic that’s cautiously making an attempt to distance itself from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Azerbaijani media praised Kazakhstan for exhibiting “impartiality and objectivity” in investigating the crash as a substitute of serving to Russia cowl it up.
Mr Aliyev mentioned the black bins may clarify why the airplane crossed the Caspian Sea to crash in Kazakhstan as a substitute of constructing an emergency touchdown at a close-by airport in Russia.
The senior Russian aviation official mentioned the airplane’s pilot selected to land in Kazakhstan. On December 29, Mr Aliyev theorized that Russian air site visitors controllers might have diverted the airplane within the expectation that it will crash into the Caspian Sea, by which case “efforts to hush the matter up” would have been “profitable”.
On the time, Mr. Aliyev additionally mentioned that Azerbaijan would anticipate Russia to pay compensation to the victims. However in a telephone interview Monday, Joshgun Nesibley, the brother of one of many flight attendants on the airplane, mentioned he was excited by one thing else.
“Why do I would like compensation from Russia? I do not want it,” mentioned Mr. Nesibli, whose sister Khokuma Aliyeva died within the crash. “They need to apologize to the individuals, although it will not deliver our sister again.”
Milana Mazaeva, Oleg Matsnev and Natalia Vasilieva contributed reporting.
