Russia Responsible for Aktau Plane Crash and Must Be Held Accountable, Azerbaijan's President Says

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has stated that responsibility for the crash of the Embraer 190 passenger plane rests with Russian officials, and Baku is calling for justice and accountability for those involved. This was reported by Vesti.az on January 6.

"I can say with confidence that the responsibility for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation. We demand justice, we demand punishment for those responsible, we demand full transparency and humane behavior," he stated.

Aliyev noted that the process of decoding the black boxes is currently underway.

"I am confident that we will soon know the preliminary results, and everything will fall into place. The full picture of the tragedy will be revealed. This, of course, will be an important moment in the complete investigation of this tragedy and the punishment of those responsible."

On December 25, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan. At least 38 people died in the plane crash. Originally flying from Baku to Grozny, the flight was first redirected to Makhachkala, Dagestan, due to fog, before being diverted again to Aktau, Kazakhstan.